Coffee, pencils and wine
by MissNemi
Summary: Team is working on a case that seems to have a strange affect on Gibbs.Something happens between him and Kate in the elevator.When Kate disappears what will happen to Gibbs? Is Ari involved in all of this? KIBBS and Kari. M for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

She could see him at the corner of her eye. If she just twitched her head a bit to the left she would see him fully. His silvercoloured hair, the twinkle in his eye, the frown above his eyes, that came from staying up too late and worrying about cases. Since the time Ari got away, the frown had only deepened. The fact that they were not allowed to touch him did not make the case better. It seemed as if Abby was the only one who could make him smile these days.

At the moment Kate felt nothing but anger towards him. The case they were working had run a dead end and the whole team felt the pressure building up. When the lead she and Tony had followed up had turned out to be yet a dead end Gibbs had lost it. He had accused them of spending more time teasing each other and playing than working, and had ended the tirade with a solid slap to the back head. The slap itself had not been so bad, she had experienced worse and the pain faded away quickly. It was the fact that he had lost control, accused her of putting quarrels with Tony over saving a little girl that had made her see red. She could see Tony wanted to say something as well, but he had obviously sensed the changed in her and had wistfully backed off. With ice in her voice she had calmly informed Gibbs that if he were to ever lay a hand on her again, he would have her resignation on his desk. And if he ever dared to accuse her of being unprofessional like that again she would personally burn his boat till there was nothing left but the screws...

From the day they had met she had felt the tension between them. That time on the submarine, when her body was pressed against his was nothing to be forgotten lightly. Feeling the hard muscles against her body. Being intoxicated by the special Gibbs smell. A blend of coffee, sawdust and something she couldn't put her finger on. The smirk on his face when she said wow afterwards. She could tell that he knew it wasn't the updraft she talked about, but she became somewhat annoyed when he joked about it in the other mans presence. If she were to be frank with herself she knew she would have kissed him if it hadn't been for the other man. She couldn't count how many nights she had spent awoke thinking about that time. Though she wasn't sure how Gibbs would react something said her that he wasn't all against the idea. The way he sometimes looked at her sent shivers down her spine…

Gibbs was furious. On the case, the kidnapper, Tony, Kate, the director but most of all on himself. He was not a man known for his patience, but he always remained in control. Over the years he had gained control over himself so he would not lose it like he did when he was younger. The moment his hand made contact with her head he knew he had made a mistake. He was not a man who allowed either excuses or apologies, but this case crept under his skin. The missing girl was the spitting image Kelly. She had disappeared one the day of Shannon and Kelly's murder. Her smile from the pictures haunted him wherever he went. When he slept, when he ate, when he worked, where he went, so did she. Her mother called in almost every hour to hear if they had found anything new even though he had told her that she would be the first to know. Her calls were the constant reminder that so far they had failed.

It had already been a week since she had disappeared from the Navy Yard. No one had seen anything; it was as if she had vanished into thin air. The only clue was the girl teddy bear that showed up three days after she had disappeared, in front of Gibbs house. On the paw of the bear they had found blood, which Abby had positive identified as the missing girls. That was the last clue they had found and their case was starting to get cold. Then when Tony and Kate had come back without anything he had snapped. He never slapped without reason nor did he put his team down in such a way. Especially Kate did not deserve that, he knew as well as any other that work always came first for agent Kate Todd and she would not jeopardise the case by playing around. It wasn't her fault that the lead had turned out useless; it was even he who had told them to follow up that lead. But she had been glorious in her anger. Not whining around like most women did, just sharp and concise. The boat threat he didn't take seriously, but her threat to resign had hit him below the belt. He could not imagine NCIS without Kate, but he knew that if he did lose it again he would also lose her. Perhaps she wouldn't resign, but just transfer to another team. He knew how much she loved coming to work every day. That walking through the doors at NCIS made her sigh with happiness every day because she felt she could contribute to the fight against evil. That she considered the team as her family and would do anything to save them. That she too suffered the lack of a social life outside work, but it didn't matter because she knew the streets was safer thanks to her and her team. He knew all this, but he also knew that if he sank that way in her eyes again she would not continue not matter what the costs were.

But no matter how what she thought of him she should have said what she said in private. If there was one thing he demanded from the people he worked with it was loyalty. He had no trouble with people who disagreed with him as long as they confronted him in private and didn't question his leadership in front of the others. He would not tolerate that someone undermined his leadership in public. He grunted.

-Kate! Elevator! Now!

Kate looked up and met his eyes with a stare that even would have made Mike Franks think twice before entering a secluded room with her. Gibbs however just got up and went straight pass her towards the elevator. After Gibbs ignored her stare she had nothing to do but follow him to the elevator. She saw Tony eying them both cautiously over his screen. Knowing he was torn between dying to hear what Gibbs was going to say to hear and praising the lord for not being the one stuck in the elevator with him she scowled at him.

As they entered the elevator they were both silent. Kate turned in time to see Gibbs slammed the button and the elevator went still. For a long moment they did nothing but stare at each other. Not many people would manage to keep it up, but Kate was furious not to mention stubborn, no way was she giving up. Gibbs was watching her stare back, her beautiful brown eyes that usually were filled with life was now dark and filled with anger. He could she was not backing down unless he gave her chance to.

-Kate I know I made a mistake today...

Slowly Kate blinked, if there was anything that could make her rage go away it was Gibbs telling her he was sorry. He would never break his own rules like that.

-However I will not apologise.

Her anger rushed up again. _Of course you won't..._

-I am the team leader. If you have any problems with how I run things you will speak to me in private. Though I may act irrational or you find my decisions wrong, you will ask to talk to me in private and then say it. However you will not undermine my authority in public. If this ever happen again be sure to remember that...

Gibbs thought he had given a pretty good summary, he even apologised to his agent, which he didn't often do. All in all things should go back to normal. He didn't catch up with the danger signals, her breath coming more rapidly and she fists closing together.

- So what you're basically saying is that I am the one who did wrong! Her voice went sky-high. You feel it's a bigger crime to let you know when you make a mistake like that than a slap on the back plus personal attacks on your team members! I can understand you are under a lot of pressure, but we all are. We haven't slept for days, constantly working our asses of to find this girl, none of us are letting you down and you act like this. You know as well as any other that we are all doing our best so don't you dare put us down like this! I have always admired you Gibbs. You were my hero. I respected you, did things I didn't find morally right to please you. You word was the law, I followed you rules, put up with your eternal huffs and puffs, your endlessly need for coffee that goes in front of everything. I never complained about the endless working hours because I knew that it helped people. But never before have I seen you act like this. You know as well as I that what you did was wrong. Embarrassing and humiliating me and Tony that way lead to nothing good. Snap out if it dammit! Be the man I know you are, cause I lo...

Kate stopped. Having not yet realised the gravity of her feelings before almost shouting them at the man she loved. Her hands covered her mouth as if she could take back what she said if she only held hard enough.

Gibbs was gobsmacked. Here was this beautiful woman who told him she loved him. Him, the old, grumpy agent with a gun in one hand and cup of coffee in the other. He watched her stutter and mumbling the evidence clear that she hadn't realised her feelings before almost shouting them at him.

-Gibbs, I was...I mean...It was no... I'm sorry.

-Never apologise, it's a sign of weakness.

She looked up at him and stared into his eyes. It seemed as if an eternity, but couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Then she jumped him and they rumbled against the wall. The blood rushing through her body was like nothing she had ever experienced before. She couldn't think, all she cared about was how her body moved against his. Their carnal instincts took over, no one cared about time or place, it was just two people uniting. He tasted of coffee and peppermint Kate managed to think before rushing her hands down his body. Overwhelmed with emotions and passion, it was like nothing she had experienced before.

Her smell intoxicated him. The sweet blend of raspberry and citrus made him loose his mind. He dragged her closer to him, trying to memorise every little bit of her as he took in her beauty. Feeling her small frame against is made him feel powerful and he wanted to protect her forever. The blood rushed to his brain and he almost couldn't breath.

Only when they couldn't get more air they stopped. As they realised what they had been doing both became more serious. Kate snuggled into his arms and he held protective around her. For a long time they just held on to each other. Neither speaking what they knew the other was thinking.

-This can't last, can it? She whispered.

-I don't know Katie. I don't know. Personal relationships between agents never do work out. And my own record with women shows nothing but catastrophes. Look at me, I am an old, grumpy man, who always works, never slows down and all I touch ends up in tragedy. You are still young with your whole life ahead of you; you should not have to be dragging around an old fool like me.

She dragged herself loose from him.

-Don't you dare blame it in the age. You know as well as me that that is not the problem here. He sighed. –Perhaps when all of this is over we can work it out? Take it slow and see how it goes?

-You're right she answered. When all of this is over I will make you dinner and then we can see how things turn out. For now we can just have peace? Just focus on getting this case solved and save that little girl. He nodded in agreement and held out his hand. –Friends? Friends she agreed and shook the hand.

As they came out from the elevators Tony eyed them carefully. Something was different about them. It would be wrong to use the word happy about them, no they seemed more content with the situation. Like something had fallen into place and they were ready to face the world again. He wondered how long it would last. He had never seen Gibbs this obsessed with a case before. He could tell it was about something else than just the little girl, something made this case personal for Gibbs and made him lose control like he never had before. He looked wondering at Kate, wondering what had happened inside the elevator. Her hair was somewhat messy and she looked a bit out of breath. He smirked; it looked like she told him what he deserved. _Good work Kate_. She hadn't deserved the cruel side of Gibbs; he knew that she took that a great more personal than he did. Over the years he had learned to define the difference between Gibbs's the barks and bites, but Kate had not yet had the pleasure of learning that. Though he joked around a lot and enjoyed annoying her he cared about her like a dear sister. He would always have her back and protect her, even from his boss. This time he had sensed her wanting to fight her own battle and therefore backed off. The way she stood up to him made him proud and he could see how much she had grown up since she came to NCIS. He desperately wanted to know what she had said to him in the elevator, cause whatever it was it must have worked. Gibbs looked calmer than for days and was clearly ready for getting somewhere with the case.

-Okay people, this time I want to hear what you think about this case? We will have a brainstorming about the case. We need a new angle if we want to bring this girl home to her parents. Kate, introduce the profile of the kidnapper one more time out load. Now everyone say what they think, do not stop to think about what you're gonna say, no one will judge you.

- The first think we know about our kidnapper is that he or her is very intelligent and organised. From statistic we have learned that most kidnappers in cases like this are men. The women who kidnap children, often does it for a more personal reason like taking their own children. To kidnap a little girl from a heavily guarded Navy Yard is a crime it takes time to plan. You will need money, the skills and a decent cover. From the look of it, it looks like an outside job, but performed by someone with a great deal of inside knowledge. People expect to be safe inside therefore it is rare to lock the doors. The kidnapper could walk right in and take her without leaving a trace. According her mother, Grace would never follow a stranger out so we conclude that she was taken by force. This is backed up by the fact that Abby found traces of chloroform in her pillow. It does not take a lot of strength to carry a little girl, but to do so fast will require some strength. It is likely that he is a man between 25-40, educated, probably military training and with a lot of resources. There have been speculations about paedophilia, but I think that is most unlikely. Paedophiles usually go for easier targets and avoid contact with the investigators to keep clear of suspicion. The teddy bear we found outside Gibbs house indicate that this is about more than sex.

- Money or power? McGee jumped in to Kate's speech.

- As we still haven't received a ransom note it is most likely about power. Someone wanted to hurt the Henryson's where it hurt the most. What is more terrifying than not knowing if your daughter is dead or alieve?

-But we have checked every person who might want to hurt this family. It was close to zero. Everyone liked them. They paid their taxes, was generally polite and kind, all in all a great family. As far as I can tell it seems as if they were picked on random, Tony finished.

- You are right about that Tony; there is no one we know about who could hold a grudge like that against them and cause them such pain.

-What if they are not trying to hurt the Henrisons?

Everyone turned and watched as Ducky came into the room.

-Have anyone of you ever checked the possibility that they could be trying to hurt someone else than them? They took a child from the Navy Yard so they knew the case would be assigned to NCIS. The victim is an old acquainted to Jethro so the first person the mother called to was him, making sure the case came to this team. And as that wasn't enough they left the girls bear in front of Jethro's house... What conclusion would you draw from this?

- They try to hurt one of us, McGee said quietly.

-Exactly! And by the look of you they manage to do it very well. None of you have slept for days, you rarely eat, bark at each other and you are working like dogs to catch these animals. I'd even go so far to say they targeted a specific person in this group, namely you Jethro. Could you think one person who wants to hurt you so bad that they would go through all this trouble to get to you?

Gibbs growled, Ari! That bastard!


	2. Chapter 2

The clock ticked eight and still they hadn't come anyway. The new angle was interesting, but somewhat hard to grasp for the director. He would not allow them to go after Ari based on the profile they gave him, but he made it clear he could look the other way as long as the consequences did not rest on him. McGee and Abby were down in her lab setting up surveillance over the places Ari might have detained in USA. Gibbs was with the director and Kate and Tony sat in the bullpen trying to find some clues in what they already had.

Kate felt her eyes closing together and sat up abruptly to prevent falling asleep.

-Easy there Katiegirl, wouldn't want Gibbs to see you sleeping at work.

-Don't call me Katie she said tiredly and rubbed her eyes. Who's turn is it to pick up coffee?

Tony eyed her carefully.

-I'll do it; you will only fall asleep and crash.

You're probably right DiNozzo, but so would you. They both turned to see Gibbs heading towards them. Both of you, go home, get some sleep, I don't want to see you here until the morning. We will get no work done with half dead people working this case. Both looked surprised at him, none of them actually believing what he said. Go, I mean it! Come back with fresh eyes and we will catch the bastard and send him where he belongs, to Ducky's cold table. Torn between being desperate for sleep and desperate to bring the girl safe home they looked at each other. At the same time they turned for their jackets, ready to hit the sack, realising that they would not do any productive work with them half asleep.

-Take a cab. You will not drive in your condition he ordered at them as they entered the elevator.

After the long day she wanted nothing, but to take a long shower and get a good nights sleep. When the cab stopped in front of her apartment she was barely awake. So much had happened today and she felt completely exhausted. _Now where were the damn keys! She must have left them at the office... _If there was one thing she didn't want to do right now it was to catch another cab and get back to the office. In frustration she banged her head on the front door.

-Kate?

She looked up surprised to see old Mrs. Johnson from across the hall. -Kate darling, don't make such a fuss. I've got your keys. A young man brought them in not long after you left this morning. Said he was a friend of yours, but that you hadn't heard him when he yelled after you this morning. Something about your head was in the clouds and you rushed off before seeing him.

-Did he give a name?

- He said his name was Tom. Tom? Kate looked at her wondering. It did not ring a bell, but then again she knew a lot of people. –How did he look? He was a very polite young man, handsome, spoke with an odd accent though, a mixture of British and something else. The old woman blinked at her. You know darling, anyone as handsome as that is worth hanging on too. This reminds me of...As the old woman kept rambling about men and so, Kate tried her best to keep look interested. _Who gave the f**k about Tom?_ All she wanted was to get inside, take a shower and then crawl under the covers and sleep. Not for the first time Kate thought old Mrs. Johnson could be a worthy opponent to Ducky. When she stopped talking for a moment to draw her breath, Kate took her the chance.

-I am very sorry Mrs. Johnson, but I have had a very long day and tomorrow is an early morning again. Thank you so much for keeping on to the keys for me, but I think I need to get into bed now. Good night.

–You career women. Always to busy to have any fun. I think you need a man in your life. If hadn't been so busy this morning you might even have a date tonight. Though I must say you could use good night's sleep first, those bags under your eyes will attract no man. Don't you think it's time to settle down darling?

The inside of Kate was boiling, but she tried her best to be polite.

–I like my life very much how it is now, thank you. Not every woman needs a man to be happy.

The old woman just nodded symphatetecly.

- If you say so Kate, good night.

Kate almost slammed the door to her apartment; she hated how people pitied her for not having a man in her life, for being a career woman, for not having children. The bad jokes about lonely women, her biological clock and all the blind dates people set up for her. Why couldn't people accept that she wanted to take things in her own time? As she entered the shower she felt the warm water wash away the stress. The scolding water made her comfortably relaxed. When she left the shower she was almost sleeping already. Her big fluffy towel covered her completely and she felt warm and relaxed. Nightwear seemed just a waste of time as she climbed into bed and felt asleep the minute her head hit the pillow. The sound of a motorcycle almost woke her up, but she was too far off to notice that it stopped outside her apartment. ..

She woke in a huff. Something was wrong; she felt it on her entire body. As she listened out to the silence of the night she prayed she was wrong. Then she heard the on thing she had hope she wouldn't, someone else was breathing in the room with her.

-Hello Caitlin, a familiar voice said from the dark.

_Ari._ She turned to see him lurking in the shadows. As fast as she could, she turned around, looking for the gun that always was under her pillow.

- Looking for this Caitlin?

First now her eyes detected her gun in his hands.

– Bastard...she whisperd.

He chuckled low under his breath.

–Now where is your manners Caitlin? We know better than to use such foul words in the present of guests.

His eyes stared into her hers before they dropped a bit lower and a smirk appeared on his face. Kate looked down just in time to remember that she was without her nightgown and he could see it all. In a swift she grabbed the blanket around her and gave him the evil eye.

-Why are you here Ari?

YOU WILL ADRESS ME AS HASWARI!

The sudden outburst made her jump, but she soon composed herself. He would not get the satisfaction of seeing her scared nor intimidated. Her brain was speed working, analysing the situation and calculating the risks. She was under no illusion that she could trick herself out the situation by seducing him. Ari would not succumb to anything any than what he wanted. If she tried to seduce him it would only end up in failure and she would lower herself in her eyes and his. If she made him angry he could lose control, and with no control it would be easier to make mistakes and she could escape. But even though she managed to overpower him, he could have backup. If that happened she would probably have to face a bullet in her head... And then there was the thing about fighting naked. She knew it would make her feel more vulnerable and she could not afford feeling less while fighting Ari. In the end she decided to keep it cool and see how the situation would play out.

It seemed as they stared at each other for an eternity. None of them was moving a muscle, both refusing to give in the staring contest first. Gibbs words rang fresh in her ear. _"Remember Kate, contrary to popular beliefs, eyes can lie"_ This time she read nothing of the kindness from autopsy. They were dark and empty, not allowing any emotions to surface.

-I will give two choices Caitlin. One. You will get up without any fuzz, get dressed, follow my every rule and accompany me out. Two. You can refuse and in that case I will call my men from your living room and they will drag you naked out and probably rape you and the kill you. You have 10 seconds...

The fact how calmed he was scared Kate more than what he said, but she had no doubt he was telling anything other but the truth. There was no reason for him to lie, he had her gun, and she was basically defenceless, as muscles could do nothing against bullets. If she wanted to live she would have to play by his rules, for now at least. The advantage of following Ari's wish also gave her the chance of getting dressed and then more ready to fight. She vowed to herself that she would get out of this situation, preferably with him dead at her feet.

-I have made my decision, her voice was load and clear not showing the fear she felt inside. -Now could you please turn around so I can get dressed without you ogling me?

Ari just raised an eyebrow and looked at her, half amused half irritated. Kate sighed and shrugged, she hadn't really believed that he would turn, but figured it was worth a shot. She had never been a prude, no matter what Tony might believe. Neither was she ashamed of her body. The daily workout had made sure of that. But being this exposed in front of the man who had held her hostage twice before scared the hell out of her. The desire to cry was present, but she would not let him see her afraid. She cuddled the blanket around her and started to walk against the wardrobe.

-Caitlin... Who gave you permission to bring the blanket with you?

-You've got to be kidding me! I am not stripping in front of you, you perverted bastard!

-Perhaps I have not made myself clear enough my dear Caitlin. If you choose to disobey me and use such foul language I will have to call for Tariq to learn you some manners. You decide...

Kate swallowed the bastard on her tongue and dropped the blanket on the floor feeling utterly exposed. Underneath she cursed herself for being so stupid as to not get dressed before going to bed. This is what she gets for being lazy. She should have been prepared. Gibbs could now serve her a very justified slap on the back of her head and she wouldn't complain a bit. _Goddammit!_ Hurriedly she went towards her wardrobe and found a pair of panties, a bra, a sweater and a pair of pants.

-There is no reason to be so modest Caitlin. I know I sure enjoy what I am looking at...

The smirk on his face and his ogling eyes did not go unnoticed by Kate, but she figured it was the idea. Making her feel exposed and vulnerable made it a less chance for her to try and fight against him. Instead smacking him as she would very much prefer to do she did the next best thing. Pulled on her clothes and looked at him to await his next"order". She tried to look untouched by his presence, but her inside was tumbling.

–Very good Caitlin, I do enjoy seeing how obedient you can be.

He put extra pressure on obedient and smirked as she could not hold back a shiver.

–Now be a good girl and put this on. He gave her a blindfold and looked at her expectantly.

–There is no way I am letting you take me out of my own apartment with that thing on! What do you want Ari!

His whole demeanour changed as she spoke his name. A shadow came over his eyes and he went cold.

–Caitlin I told you not to address me by that name... –What did I say would happen if you used foul language? You should know better than to toy with me...Tariq!

Kate shivered by his words. Never had she seen a man so cold, but still so angry. Somehow he looked like the devil himself. Heavy footsteps could be heard and then a large man came into the room. The whole man looked mutated. He was completely black; the only other colour on him was the white in his eyes making him look like death itself. He was larger than any other man she had ever seen, packed with muscles and she could see a knife hanging from his belt. Ari just nodded towards her and sat down on her bed to enjoy the show.

As Tariq approached Kate she panicked. All she wanted was to turn around and run as far away from this monster she could_. Focus Katie..._Suddenly she could her Gibbs voice. _Focus Katie, if you only focus you can win every battle. It is all about finding the weak point of your opponent._ Slowly she breathed to gain control and then placed herself in combat position. There was no way she could win over this monster by using strength, so she would have to outsmart him. He smiled when he saw that she would not go down without a fight. It was a smile without happiness, a cruel smile from a man who was confident that he would win and only played with the food before he ate it. This was a man who enjoyed making others feel small and then crush them. She didn't move, wanted to wait him out, see how he wanted to play this game, then she smiled sweetly to him. For a moment he looked confused, obviously not used to his victims not being intimidated by him, but then again, she was no victim, she refused to see herself that way. She was special agent Kate Todd, trained by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, handpicked to protect the president. He on the other hand, was nothing but a large bully, who was about to get his ass whipped.

Her whole body was tensed, ready to move in an instant, to fight back when he decided to make his move. Slowly they began circling, facing each other, two predators ready to strike. Suddenly he bashed forward trying to take advantage of the element of surprise, but Kate was ready for him. She jumped around and planted a solid kick to his side. He stumbled, but didn't fall as she would have expected him to do. An ordinary man should have fallen over by a kick like that be he grunted before turning towards her again. It made her gain new respect for his strength, and reconsider how she wanted to play this out. As he came towards her for the second time she focused on his face. He expected her to try to get away and was surprised when she instead jumped towards him, screaming like mad and managed to place a solid blow to his nose. _Yes! _She managed to think before something hard hit her head and all went black...


	3. Chapter 3

She woke up feeling like the earth moved beneath her. Then she realised that it actually did. Judging by the movements she was probably in a vehicle of some sort, probably a van. Something was covering her head so she couldn't see and she had something in her mouth that made it impossible to speak. Her head ached and it felt like Sahara in her mouth. She struggled to keep the panic down. _Some special agent I am_, she thought to herself. _Goes down in the first punch. _The vehicle they were in made a turn and she felt the urge to vomit, but she knew that if she did, she would probably suffocate. Around her she could hear people talking to each others in fast Arabic, but it didn't sound like a pleasant conversation, more like someone was barking orders at the others. Her hands were tied with some kind of a rope, but there was no way she could get out of it. As she tried to move her feet she could tell the same thing replied for them.

-Are you comfortable Caitlin?

Ari voice stood out from the other foreign noises. Instead of fussing about the ropes she went still, waiting for what to happen next. She could hear his soft chuckle. How amused he must be, she thought. Not only did he manage to disarm her and put her in a very vulnerable situation, but he also managed to sneak her, unconscious out of her home without anyone stopping him.

-Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin what are we going to do with you? Did you honestly believe you could out win Tariq? He has been trained in battle all his life, plus with his rather impressive facade I would have believed you were smart enough to offer truce.

He kept on rambling what she should have done, but soon she decided to cut him out and try to find a solution to her problems. If he got her too angry she would lose her chance to think rational. When she didn't come in to work in the morning, Gibbs would send someone to her house and when he found out she was missing he would understand. At least she hoped he would. Her best chances to get free and see where she was would be when they stopped. They had to move her somehow and then she could seize the chance and get loose. Even if they captured her again she would get a clear image of where she was. A hard kick to her stomach made her focus on Ari again.

-You will listen again Caitlin, I do not approve of being ignored by a silly little creature like you.

Angrily she blinked her tears away. _Fucking bastard!_ Kicking a person while their down, is just not right. _God that hurt! I am going to kill him!_ Disoriented by the pain it took her a while to realise that the vehicle had stopped. Then a pair of strong arms picked her up like she was nothing but a feather. The man, she suspected Tariq, carried her over his shoulder like a ragdoll. She felt a fresh breeze blowing and she could smell the ocean. It was cold to be outside in nothing but a thin sweater and pants. She tried to analyze her surroundings; in the background she could hear Ari shouting something in Arabic. The wind blew cold and she could not feel any sun on her body, which meant it was probably still dark. Tariq held her in a tight grip, making it impossible to slip away and try to fight._ Dammit! _Someone truly had in for her today. She could hear someone open a door in front of them and then they were inside. Apart from the lack of wind, the temperature was the same. Shivers went through her body, never in her life had she missed her shoes and jacket more.

Jallah Jallah!

Someone shouted in front of her and slapped her in the face. Suddenly the person carried her dropped her to floor. She hit the cold floor with a load bang and then a nauseating crack from her wrist could be heard. The pain was excruciating, all she could feel was the agony from her right wrist. Someone laughed at her she could tell, but she did her best not to scream nor cry. She would not give them the pleasure of letting them know they hurt her. _Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out._ She kept the focus on breathing. If she only focused on one thing, she wouldn't succumb to the pain. The rope tying her hands and feet together was cut, and a loud slam from a door indicated she was being locked away in a room. Slowly she dragged the hood from her head, but it did nothing good for her. The room she was in was entirely black and she couldn't see a thing. Her wrist was hurting like hell and it was hard to focus, but she managed to drag herself across the room and into a corner. The hood used to keep her blind, she used as a sling for her wrist and exhausted she collapsed into the wall. She wondered what time it was. Soon it had to be morning; someone should be missing her by now. _Gibbs._ Finally, when she was alone, she allowed herself to cry. When the first came there was no stopping the others. She cried her heart out, thinking about Gibbs, her team, herself and feeling lonely and helpless. The feeling of helplessness was the one that was the hardest to cope with.

Gibbs woke in a huff. _Coffee_. Sleeping in that chair was really uncomfortable, but over the years he had gotten used to it. Sleepily he eyed the clock, 5:34. _Time to get up_. His local coffee shop had already been open for half an hour, bout' time he got there now. As he drove he wondered if he should get another cup for Kate as well, and perhaps pick her up. They could drink their coffee and perhaps talk a bit about what to do about them. He was still in shock about their little meeting in the elevator. How could anyone that beautiful love him? She was so young, had a very promising future, why on earth had channelled her love towards him? In the end he decided it was too early to think about that, all it served for was making him loose focus on the case. He got two cups of coffee, one of his usual blend and the other one was added with some milk to make it sweeter. Kate still wasn't used to his way of having coffee...

He knew her well enough to know that she was probably beating herself up for not taking down Ari that time. That the picture of Grace would haunt her the same way it haunted him. That if she had killed Ari that time, that little girl would still be with her family... Everyone needed to learn from their mistakes, but this was a very hard lesson. He wondered if she could keep up if the girl died. Or if she would fall in the same trap as so many others before her. If she would start to hate herself, and that the spark he loved within her would die. He vowed to himself that he would not let that happen, he would be there for her, making sure she didn't fall. As he pulled over to her apartment he wondered if she was even awake. The clock had now turned 6, but judging by her appearance yesterday she could be still sleeping. But old habits were difficult to change, no one knew that better than him, and he knew that she went running around 5 every morning. It had to be a very special occasion if she were to change the habit she had had since she was 17. Hopefully she was done running by know and already home again. If not he would wait, her car was still parked at NCIS and he had no problem waiting for her. After the time with Suzanne, he had occasional come to visit her and usually he brought coffee. They didn't have to talk much; he just made sure that she knew he was there for her if she wanted to. He didn't try to convince her that it wasn't her fault, because both he and she knew that it was. No, he let her knew that it was allowed to screw up sometimes. That, if she had learnt from her mistake and was willing to move on, he would back her up. _She was his girl_.

The front door was open, something that was a bit strange. The Kate he knew was very careful with her security and wouldn't have done such a blunder. Instantly he sensed that something was wrong and he drew his weapon.

-Kate?

His voice bounced off the walls and sounded strange in the silent apartment. The whole place was neat, tidily cleaned up just the way it always was. Nothing seemed out of place, but then again he knew she took pride in keeping her home like this. She could still be sleeping he said to himself, but somehow he knew that he wouldn't find her peacefully in her bed. As he entered the bedroom two things caught his attention. The sheets on the bed all rumpled together, quite the contrast to the rest of the apartment and a gun left on the floor. Immediately he recognised it as Kate's gun, the one he knew she kept in her apartment for protection, always under her pillow. She would never have left it on the floor like that. He pulled up his phone quick and dialled the number he knew so well. _Pick up, please pick up!_ He jumped as her familiar ringtone played behind him. He hung the phone up before quick dialling another number.

-Tony, get over to Kate's apartment now, bring the truck and pick McGee up on the way. I'll assemble the rest of the team! Stat!

Then he hung up, not even thinking about what Tony might believe about bringing the full gear to one of his agent's home. About what he might have thought after such a call? That Tony might believe she was dead...

After a while, Kate started to feel numb, cold and frozen. It was no use to cry like a little girl, she needed to focus, make a plan to escape. First she would need to know where she was. From what she could tell she was somewhere by the sea, but from her cell she could no longer smell it. This meant she was probably in some kind of a brick building, with thick walls. Judging by the moist on the walls it was most likely underground, perhaps even under water. As her eyes adjusted to the dark she could face the contours of a small room. There were no windows and no inventory. She shivered at the possibility that there could be rats. If there was one thing she really detested it was those rodents. She felt exhausted by the tears, but she wouldn't sleep. The pain from her wrist would help her not fall asleep and so she sat against the wall, waiting for someone to come. As time went by she could feel her eyelids getting closer and closer together and she had to swallow a yawn. If she hadn't been so beaten down she would have tried to walk around the cell, moving to gather the energy she could. _Alternatives way to stay awake..._ One after one she started to recite Gibbs's rules, starting on one and moving up. Thinking about Gibbs filled her with warmth again. She thought about his ice blue eyes, the way he always smelled of coffee and sand dust and his warm hands. That was a strange thing about Gibbs she remembered, no matter how cold the weather was, his hands were always so warm. Hands had always filled her with fascination. They were the trickiest to draw and they showed so much about people. If someone were upset you could tell by their fist, if they were relaxed their hands were open, a good grip could indicate confidence and a loose indicated that you were weak. Warm, strong hands like Gibbs were a rare treat for her. She had spent months trying to draw them after her memory. The ever being perfectionist she was she never became satisfied with the result. In the end she had decided it was foolish to try and replicate them and just kept them in her memory instead. Even now she could see them before her, working hands, hard by years of working with boats. Real big, manly hands, not soft, moist hands like accountants always had. She always detested shaking hands with accountants, it reminded her of her school days, when she always had to hold hands with creepy Jim Samson. His hands were always so sweaty and filled with worth's. She had never said it to anyone, it seemed as such a weird fetish, but she had never dated a guy with sweaty hands. Even if they were very handsome and she everything else about him, if they had sweat hands they had to go. The sudden noise of a door being unlocked made her jump. So they had come for her at last...


	4. Chapter 4

First I would like to thank all of you who are following my story, it turns out to be a bit darker than I originally intended, but we will see how Kate manages when she is held captive. There probably won't be a new chapter until Monday, but I trust that everyone will have enough fun stuff to do so they won't miss it ;)

Someone pushed her hard down on a chair and ripped the hood from her face. After being blinded and cuffed again they had forced down a hall. She had counted 76 steps in her head, and from what she had felt they had moved further down. As the hood was removed she was momentarily blinded by the light before her eyesight adjusted. In front of her sat a man she had never seen before. He was well dressed, wore a white and a obviously very expensive suit, he had manicured hands, glossy hair and between his fingers he rolled a long cigar. Never had she seen a man so out of place, but yet fitting in. He reminded her of an old mafia boss in a movie she had seen with Tony. At the first glance he looked almost handsome, and she would bet that a lot of ladies thought so. But if you looked closer at him you would discover his cold eyes, eyes without compassion, the eyes of a man who couldn't care less if you lived or die. His lips were thin and colourless and the way he kept licking his tongue over them to keep them moist, reminded Kate of a hungry snake. In the background she could spot Ari. Her frown deepened when he blinked at her.

Now special agent Caitlin Todd, the man in front of her said. Do you know why you are brought here?

Kate just shrugged her shoulders. She would soon enough.

No? You are here to provide my team with inside information on NCIS and your president and his personal habits. You will give these freely and we will let you go without any harm, or if you refuse the information will be forced out of you.

She answered it with a snort, as if they ever were going to let her go after seeing their faces, did they think she was stupid? Of course she would refuse, there were probably not a single person in this room who believed otherwise. She would rather die than betraying her country, Gibbs or her team.

Very well, the man in front of her said as he stood up. You might rethink this when we are done with you. For now you will be in the property of Haswari, which I believe you already know?

Then he turned and something in Arabic to him before leaving the room. After him the other men followed and then closed the door. Ari came slowly towards her.

Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin, what are we going to do with you?

He pulled his chair so that he sat in front of her. Then he leaned towards her and tucked some the loose hair behind her ear. She tried to stop the shivers running through her body when he entered her personal space, but couldn't stop. As he smirked at her again she felt completely lost. What was he going to do with her? Though he always flirted with her and came on to her she didn't believe he really wanted her. She would rather be tortured a thousand times than being raped, especially by him. That had always seemed as the worst fate imaginable, to have someone use her body like that. As if had read the thought he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

Don't fret my little Caitlin. If that were to happen I know you will enjoy it immensely.

She couldn't hold back a big snort and looked at him with fire in her eyes.

The only thing I will enjoy doing with you, is making you bleed slowly to death by my feet. Or perhaps just put a bullet through your head. How is your shoulder by the way?

When she reminded him on how Gibbs shot his shoulder off the last time they met she could see a shadow close over his eyes. He leaned backward, trying to compose a relaxed posture, but his hands were giving him off. His fist were closing so hard together that they were turning white. When he again spoke his voice was dangerously low.

You will soon learn the hard way that pissing me off will only end in misery for you. Choose your words very carefully because the next time you do something I don't approve of it will cost you your finger.

There was no doubt his words were sincere. The cold look in his eyes was all the evidence she needed. She watched him carefully as he stood up, following his every step until she had to stop because he was walking behind her. She felt his hands placing on the shoulders, fingers near her throat as if he were a lover ready to give a massage. Slowly his hands moved closer to her neck and could feel his breath in her ear as he whispered;

You could be gone in just on snap. The neck is one of the most fragile parts on your body, not very well protected but still it holds up the very reason you are alive. If I just bend your neck around now you would be gone before you knew it. As he spoke, he slowly turned her head indicating how he would precede. Or I could just squeeze a little harder here and you would no longer be able to breathe, he said as his fingers sank deep into her neck making it harder and harder to breath. But if I threaten you with death we would get nothing out of you, would we Caitlin? You are a patriot and a loyal employee. You consider your team family and you'd easily die for them. What I wonder, are you prepared live your every day in pain for them? You suffer while they relax, you'll be a captive while they are free, you never being able to anything other than what I command and they can do what they like? In the end they will forget you. They will move from missing you and get on with their lives, but you will rot away, never being able to see them again? Are you prepared to spend the rest of your life with me instead of giving them up?

Under his speech she had focused on keeping her breathing right, to not give away how much he scared her. She was prepared to give her life, but to slowly fade away scared her more than anything. Still she was sure that Gibbs would come and save her, by now someone must have noticed that she was gone and it wouldn't take Gibbs or his gut much guessing who's got her. He would find her, and she would not disgrace him by spilling her gut about internal secrets so the only answer she gave him was a cold stare. He made a load theatrical sigh as if he ever thought she would by his deal.

Very well then my Caitlin; let's start with one of your fingers. No tell me which would you rather have me remove?

Outside the room the guards could hear her muffled screams, but no one came to help. They had been instructed to guard the room, not protect the one inside it...

After a full examination of the house they could establish that the apartment had not been forced open. This could mean several things, one; Kate knew her attacker and had open willingly. But the fight in the bedroom suggested otherwise, cause unless Kate had a secret lover, she would never have led them to her room. Two; Kate had forgotten her gun on the floor and to close her door and was somewhere else voluntarily. This was doubted by everyone, since they knew that Kate would never in her life jeopardize her house like that, or risk her career by not showing up for work when they worked a case. McGee had suggested it with hope in his voice before, by saying she was probably just too tired to remember to close the door and she was already on her way to work, but as time went by even he lost faith in that. The third and most plausible reason was that someone had picked the lock and subdued Kate in the bedroom. The door was now on the way to Abby to be examined if it had been recently picked. With it followed the sheets from the bed, to see if there had been any sexual assault, her phone, PDA, home computer and gun. They had found some blood splatter which also was on the way to be analysed. Every surface of her apartment had been wiped clean and so far they hadn't found a single print.

According to her neighbour, the old lady across the hall who resembled Ducky in so many ways, Kate had come in around 8:30 and since she hadn't heard a noise from her. The only thing she remembered was that about an hour later there had been a rather noisy motorcycle outside, but when she had gone out to tell the person to go somewhere else the noise was gone. She had thought that the biker had gone away, but he could off course be the one who had taken Kate. Actually she was sure that that was what had happened, because everyone new "that those bikers are up to no good" which then led on to be a long and tiresome story about one time when she was in Italy and some bikers had stole her bag. By the time they got back to the office the only thing they had in their head was to get Kate back. Gibbs went straight up to the director's office and shortly after they could see them both go into MTAC. After waiting around a while or so Tony asked;

How much do you bet their calling whoever is in charge of Ari now?

McGee just shrugged his shoulders before replying.

I bet however it is will deny that Ari is involved in any of this, even when they know it is the truth. And I am guessing they won't realise their mistake until it's too late. I think they are willing to sacrifice one person if they believe it will in the end lead to something good for them. And I think a monkey could probably do a better job watching after Ari that anyone else in that team.

Is that so McGee? Gibbs voice rang cold behind him.

Any other time he would be scared of Gibbs, but the fear of a friend in distress overruled any other feeling he might have.

Yes, I believe that this would never have happened if they had done a better job with Ari, like allowing us to shot him after taking Kate the first time.

Instead of giving him a head slap as he expected Gibbs only gave him an approving nod before he marched down to Abby. McGee and Tony exchanged glances before hurrying down after him.

From what I have found out, the blood on the floor is most likely Kate's since both are A+, but we won't know for sure until the DNA result gets back. The gun have not been fired, but it has been wiped clean, there are no fingerprints, neither Kate's nor anyone else's. From what I can find there are not any signs of anyone having recently sex in her bed or any other signs of it taking place. And that's what I have for now.

Without the usual music in her lab Abby's voice sounded strange in her lab. She spoke fast as if she only kept talking she wouldn't break down. Trying to find out if one of her best friends had been sexually assaulted before kidnapped was something she didn't want to do. So she tried to distance herself from the case so it wouldn't harm her. If she thought too much about it she would break down and that could ruin their chances of finding Kate.

We will find her Abs, Gibbs voice was soft and yielding. Ari cannot hide forever and we will find her before they inflict any harm on her.

Then he reached forward and gave her a long hug. – I know you can find the evidence to prove it was him, he whispered softly in her ear without anyone than her hearing it. – If there is anyone I know can do this then it's you. For Kate...

For Kate, the others tuned in. For Kate...

Excuse me? Sir? The director needs to see you know, something about a package.

The team turned and looked at the young man in the doorway who was obviously a bit unwell.

You need to come right away. It is about agent Todd sir.

Gibbs pushed himself pass the young man and hit the elevator, his frown deepening, wondering what this package had to do with his agent. By the look of the young man it certainly didn't look promising.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello my dear readers. Sorry I couldn't get the next chapter up until today, but I have been kind of busy. I really love it when people comment on my work and also give me inspiration to write further. So remember the more reviews the more chapters will come up

Not for the first time Gibbs heart was filled with rage, but only one time before he had felt it at this level. The image of his Kate unconscious, with blood streaming down her forehead filled him with so much darkness he almost couldn't breathe. How dared they take his agent, his Kate! How dared they harm her! He vowed he would not rest until all those who had allowed this to happen had paid. Not to rest until he had Ari lie below his feet with a bullet through his head. She had looked so fragile on that picture, so lost and helpless. Nothing like the Kate he knew, with fire in her eyes and a quick comeback. They had taken the fire from her, she needed to be rescued. She did not belong with those dirty creatures, and if they harmed her he would personally make them pay. He couldn't go through losing someone he cared deeply about again. After losing Kelly and Shannon he wanted to die. He wanted so bad to be dead and join them again. Too see their smiles, their faces again and join them in death. To go through that again was not something he was willing to do. Somewhere out there was Kate, hurt and alone and he would find her. He would find her alive and then make her a nice dinner, with dessert and coffee. He would make her smile again, make her laugh. _How he loved hearing her laugh._ Then he would never let her go again, not work not anything would come between them. It became difficult to breathe...He needed get out of here now! Needed some fresh air! Before even noticing it he had grabbed the keys and ran for the elevator.

Kate was in shock. She couldn't stop looking down at her hands and thinking. When Ari took out his knife and placed it over her index finger, ready to cut it off she had just looked him in the eyes. Not allowing her fear to surface she only looked deep into his eyes, searching for the man she once saw in autopsy. The one who had disappeared the next time she saw him, replaced by a man with cold blood who shot another woman without blinking an eye. Her searching eyes seemed to unsettle him and for a moment she could see the man behind the mask. He looked down on her hands, and stopped for a moment. Then he did something strange, so out of his nature she wasn't sure it had happened. He had leaned down and softly kissed her hand and whispered softly. _I'm sorry Ziva_. Then with a rapid movement he had lifted his knife and penetrated her hand with his knife. The pain shot through hand and she had screamed. The blade had not hit her bones and he had not taken her finger and she suppose she had to be grateful for that, but the pain had been agonizing. Now however it had faded away and could not be felt as anything but an annoying itch. She wondered who Ziva was and why he was sorry. Could she be his girlfriend? Then he better be sorry for her, even Kate felt sorry for her, imagine being stuck with that bastard Ari. Or perhaps she knew what kind of monster he was and was just like him; in that case she did not feel sorry for her. She didn't know, she was just so confused. After putting his knife through her hands he had simply pulled it out and was once again his usual self. _– Anything you want to say now Caitlin?_ Trying to fight the pain away she had just shook her head, this was not enough to make her talk. _– I could take other hand too you know. Then it would be very difficult to draw again. _She wondered how he knew that she liked to draw, but she said nothing. Just looked him in the eyes again, preparing herself for more pain. But again he had surprised her.In Arabic he had called for the guards who had then dragged her to her cell, not caring about the blood that poured from her hand. This time she didn't have any extra blindfold to bind around her wound so instead she had ripped out a part of her sweater to stop the blood. She sat in corner, lifting her wounded hand over her head too keep it high and tried to stay warm. _Ziva_... It was someone he obviously cared about. The strange thing was that the name didn't sound Arabic, but she had never heard it before. From what she could tell it sounded more Jewish than anything. _Forbidden love?_ It was possible she supposed, that Ari could have a Jewish girlfriend but it sounded a bit farfetched. _Ziva..._ The name kept bugging her until she was disturbed by a load growl from her stomach. Suddenly she realised how hungry and thirsty she was. She wondered how long she had been gone, time seemed to stand still down in this hole, but she was sure she had been gone at least a day. _Would they starve her to death?_ No, it seemed more likely that they were trying to weaken her, making unable to keep her secrets. She knew that no one could stand against torture for a long period, in the end everyone would have to give up. If Gibbs didn't save her in time she hoped that death would take her before she spilled any secrets. To die knowing she had betrayed everything she stood for was not something she was prepared to do. When Gibbs crossed her mind again she felt butterflies tingling in her stomach. In her mind she memorised everything about him, from his blue eyes to his smell of coffee. She wondered if she was ever allowed to see his boat. When Tony talked about it she wanted nothing but to go to his house and see it for herself. Though he had been in her apartment many times she had never entered his house. She had often driven past it at night when she felt lonely or restless, but she had never built up the nerve to go and knock on the door. She never knew what she was going to say to him. When he came to her usually they didn't talk, just sat quietly and drank their coffee. In the beginning she had preferred to make her own cup since the one he brought always was too strong, even after he claimed to have put milk and sugar in it. It had to be a tiny, tiny spoon of sugar and milk if that was true, but after a while she got used to it. Still it was fun teasing him about it, making him get extra milk from the kitchen. After he left his smell hung around the place forever. The pillows on the couch smelled like him and when she curled up at night she used to hug one of them, pretending he was still near. Though she never admitted, not even to herself that she loved him she could see it now. Before she had refused herself to think too much about him since she was afraid he would say no to her. When they had kissed she had felt all her dreams come true, and she felt that deep in his heart he could love her back. After she had expected a total rejection when she felt his body tense, she knew how much his own rules meant to him and instead of being rejected she said it out load for him. But then he had surprised her when he said they could see after the case was over. When they had found Grace they could see how things evolved between them. _Grace!_ She felt like slapping herself in the head, the real Gibbs way. If that girl was somewhere down this pig hole she had to be scared out of her mind. If they had hurt her she vowed that she would punch them back to the stone ages. The thought of Grace made her stand up and she started to examine the room. She couldn't just sit in a corner and mope, she needed to do something. The cold stonewalls was thick, but when she put her ear to it she could her someone talk on the other side. She couldn't make out the words or anything, but it definitely was the sound of someone talking. Inspired by her discoveries of the cell she decided to check out the door. It was large old iron door, the ones that fit perfectly in old concrete buildings. There was no handle on her side, but the concrete smeared over where it should have been told her it had been. By the sight of it she could tell it was a very heavy door, probably weighing around one ton. It was a bit rusty, but even putting all of her weight against the door it still wouldn't move. When putting her ear against it she could once again hear the faint noises of someone talking, but judging on how it sounded they were probably yelling at each other. _Dammit!_ It wasn't as if she really had believed that she could move a one ton door, but she was growing mad in here, doing nothing. She had always had a problem with sitting still and doing nothing. The times she had managed to concentrate alone were the times she had her sketch board and a pencil. She needed something to take her mind of being trapped or she would go mental.

In the end the combined pain from her head, hand and wrist made her sit down again. The room was spinning and she slumped against the wall. _So tired..._ The whole room kept spinning and for a minute she decided to close her eyes. She didn't want to sleep in case they came back but it was so difficult to stay awake. Not noticing that she was drifting off to sleep before she already was dreaming...

I can't get into Ari's head!

McGee rubbed his head in frustration before looking up at Tony.

Not the way Kate could do! Don't you think that the one person we could have used to crack this case is also the one person who is gone? Kate was the one who could get into that bastards mind and figure out what made him tick. I don't think we can do this Tony...

Tony looked at the younger agent looking so desperate to be corrected. Never before had he seen him this put down before. Sure he had been reduced slightly by some of the cases they had worked before and doubted himself, but never like this. He was on the brink of hopelessness. The thought of losing a dear friend and being a part reason to why they couldn't find her was obviously more than he could handle at the moment. Feeling equally crap Tony sighed before trying to start a peptalk.

Look Timmy... For Kate we can do this. We can do...

He sighed, the words sounding hollow in his own ears. How could they do what Kate did? She was the one who always managed to find the trigger in the offenders' mind that made it possible to catch him. They were a team, everyone had different specialities and that was what made them so good. Abby and Ducky found the evidence, McGee had his computer stuff, Kate was the profiler, he was, well he wasn't really sure, but he was a hell of a cop and Gibbs was the boss who made them all do their best. But right now no one knew where Gibbs was. After they received the picture of an unconscious Kate he had just taken off. He drove away so fast that no one had any idea where he was, his phone turned off made it impossible to trace him and that left the team to their selves. Abby was downstairs trying to find any evidence from the picture and Ducky was helping her. Deciding to the best to help Kate, he and McGee had decided to create a profile on Ari to determine his next move. But that was easier said than done and after an hour the only thing they had come up with was that he wanted to hurt Gibbs.

Tim, we just have to do this right now. Instead of trying to think like Ari let's try to think like Kate? Let's go over everything she has ever said about him and make up a list of it.

He is not doing this for Allah or for the holy war. This is about money and power.

After he risked Gibbs shouting him we know he is willing to take large risks. Even though his life is precious to him he needs do live on the edge. Perhaps he can't feel anything if not?

He is a womanizer, and he loves beautiful women.

After mention number three they both looked at each other worriedly.

You don't think he will take Kate do you? I mean, well you know what I mean. He will leave her alone...? He wouldn't just rape her?

Well gee McGee I don't know! Perhaps he will just kill her? And perhaps just torture her? I don't know what he will do with Kate! All I know is that he is a real piece of shit, which deserves to rot in hell. I know he don't care much about other people or their feelings. I know that he flirted with Kate every fucking time he met her! He liked her well enough then. However what I don't know is what he will do with her know that he has her all alone!

Not even realising it, Tony was shouted his lungs off. The thought of Kate being molested by that scumbag was more than he was ready to handle. His blood was boiling and his breath came rapidly. After a while he calmed down and when he saw the pale face of McGee he regretted yelling at him. McGee was just as worried as he was and hadn't meant anything about it.

I'm sorry Tim... I didn't mean to do that. Let's just move on so we can find the bastard... Okay?

He could see McGee visibly pull himself together before he said;

He wants to hurt Gibbs so he targets the ones he find vulnerable. Like Grace and Kate, both female, one is a child and the other failed to kill him. This could mean he thinks they are weak? He knows that Gibbs would do anything to protect Kate and there sin thing worse for him than a child in danger.

After sending the picture of Kate to us he is showing off. Proving that he has a member of our team and we can't protect her. This message is used to hurt us and mock us at the same time. He can do anything against us, while we can do nothing.

The teddy bear indicates the same thing. Instead of a picture all we found was her teddy bear with her blood on the paw. This is all to make us feel inadequate.

... I can't think of anything else, McGee said silently...

What will his next move be? Will he take someone else, or send more "presents"? If he follows his pattern he would probably take someone else that mean a lot too Gibbs.

McGee looked at Tony with worried eyes.

Abby! She represents the same things as Grace and Kate! We have to warn her!


	6. Chapter 6

Aaaand I'm back! With the longest chapter I have written yet. I am sorry of this took some time, but it was a very challenging chapter to write. I wanted to get things right so I needed some time to find facts to back up my story. Hope that I did okay since this after all, was very difficult to write. I have tried to correct my spelling errors, but please have in mind that I write more English than American, and that my language is more orally based than written.

After a nights' very uncomfortable sleep Kate woke up feeling like someone was watching her. Slowly she opened her eyes only to find Tariq, inches from her faces, staring her down.

"Jesus Christ! Are you trying to scare me to death!"

The sudden shock of finding him only inches away from her made her jump in terror, which resulted in kicking her head hard in the wall.

"God dammit! Can't you people wake people up in a normal way instead of scare us into injure ourselves? Honestly?"

Still in shock after the somewhat brutal wakeup she didn't even feel frightened by this monster. She looked angrily up at him and was once again struck by how much he resembled the devil himself. Never before had she met anyone who looked more bizarre than this man. It was as if he lived inside his own bubble and other people were nothing but bugs to him. Bugs to crush, or to be ignored. In a few seconds he only looked stupid at her before he surprisingly broke out in laughter. And as he laughed, his whole demeanour changed, making him look almost human. His traits softened and he looked almost like any other man. Confused she forgot her anger and looked at him.

"Little one, it's too bad you're on the wrong side cause you could become one hell of a fighter. If taught right of course. With that temper and some skills you could beat many of the men here. "

His voice was unnatural light, like a young boy who hadn't reached puberty yet. She had expected him to have a dark and a very masculine voice, but instead he sounded more like McGee after she had kicked him in the groin. Being a bit distracted by his voice it took her while to process that the monster was actually complimenting her. Wondering she looked at him, was he only making fun of her?

"Even though Haswari said you were a bit of a trickster I didn't believe you could actually trick me, being such a small creature and all. If you had only been a bit bigger or stronger you could have done a lot of damage yesterday. That kick really hurt. "

A bit confused by his change of manor it took a while to absorb what he was saying. He sounded sincere, but what he said didn't' make sense. Why was he complimenting her when she lost the fight so quick? She was certainly not proud over the match; she hadn't lost so fast in ages. Why was he acting nice to her? Most likely this was a good cop, bad cop scheme. Perhaps Ari was hoping she would confide in Tariq and trust him, and then she would spill her secrets. More doubtfully he was actually sincere and thought she could do a nice job. If that were true, perhaps she could make an ally in him; make him spill his secrets so she could escape. In her head she calculating him, how she could use him most to her advantage. Clearly he did not like weakness in people, what he admired was her strength. The fact that she wouldn't back down, even for an opponent twice her size was obviously something he appreciated. She had worked with people like that before, people who didn't allow weakness in themselves or in others. Either way it would be beneficially for her play along his game. Knowing the only way to deal with people like this was remaining strong; she smiled cocky at him before saying;

"Next time I will kick your ass. "

He laughed again

"That would be fun to test out little one. Just get in better shape first; what's the fun in fighting a rag doll? Take care of yourself, and then we can fight"

Then, like she was his little pet he patted her on the head before he indicated that he was going to carry her. Quickly she pushed his hands away and said rather annoyed.

"I can walk by myself, thank you very much. There is nothing wrong with my legs."

He raised an eyebrow, but took a step back and watched her struggle her way up. Her legs felt like jelly and the room span as she finally stood on her own two feet. She took a moment, clinging to the wall, but as he once again made movements to carry her she shook her head and tried a testing step towards him instead. Determined to do it herself she waved him away and made movement toward the door.

"Little one, wait a minute. You have to wear this one and carry these before going outside. Can't have you escaping so fast after we've got you", he said as he held forward a blindfold and waved a rope.

She sighed, but wasn't surprised. No way in hell they were going to let her get a chance to see something she wasn't supposed to. Ari knew very well her skills in observing her surroundings. The ropes were obviously for the same reason; he still thought she could put up a fight, broken wrist and all she still posed as a threat. He wasn't stupid at least; he knew that she would continue to fight no matter what. Resigning she put the blindfold on and held her arms so he could tie her up. As he tied her up she tried to keep still, but the pain that came when he tightened the ropes around her broken wrist made her yelp out in pain. Silently he just patted her on the head before he with a firm grip led the way to interrogation. This time she counted 278 steps and from what she could tell, they went downwards this time. The temperature dropped the further down they got. She just didn't understand Tariq. At first he had looked like the evil itself and she could tell he had great pleasure in fighting those weaker than him, but apparently he had a some sort of respect for those who could or dared fight back. Now he was almost friendly towards her. She didn't want to fool herself, he was not a good man and she didn't think he actually liked her. No, it had to be a part of Ari's plans to get her to talk. Had Ari really warned Tariq about her? Some way she was actually a bit flattered, obviously she had been considered as a threat and they had chosen, probably the best fighter among them to fight her. How did Ari know so much about her, so much personally things? He knew that enjoyed drawing, that she could fight well, well he probably knew that she could fight; after all he knew she used to protect the president. Why had he wanted her to fight against Tariq when they all knew she could be subdued by a gun? Did he enjoy seeing her lose, or did he honestly think she could put up a decent fight. Was it all a test? Perhaps like the time in autopsy he wanted to see what she would do. Her mind was so confused by all their contradicting behaviour. As a door in front of her was opened she was once again reminded of the torture that probably was ahead of her. She only hoped she could endure it, with Ari there was no question he had the imagination to make it horrible. It was like walking into a lions nest. She wrinkled her nose at the thought, not a lion, more like a snakes nest, Ari was no lion, he was a snake... Cruel, sneaky and cold blooded.

"Hello Caitlin, how nice of you to join me, I trust you slept well?"

His low mocking tone of voice sent chills up her spine. She could feel him walking around her, inspecting her before he leaned in behind her. With her hands tied and eyes blindfolded, panic started to rise inside her when he softly placed his hands around her. _Breathe, just breathe_. _Don't let him see you scared._ She focused all she could on keeping her breath normal and tried to relax her body so he wouldn't notice the panic within. She could feel him smile behind her as his hands started to slowly wander up and down her body.

"Do you have anything to tell me today Caitlin? "

When she made no noise he sighed before things took an unexpected turn. He quickly untied her hands and started to examine the wounded hand from yesterday's torture. Gently he rubbed her hands were they had been tied before he started to move her fingers to check for movement. Pain shot through her hand as his movements reopened the wound in her hand, but she did her best to stay calm. It started to bleed again and she could feel the blood slowly dripping from her hand. The distinctive smell of blood found it way too her nostrils and combined with her growing headache after hitting her head in the wall, it made her want to hurl.

"Now, now Caitlin, we can't have you wandering around with such a filthy wound, it could get infected and then where would we be? It took a great deal of planning to get you here and we wouldn't let our efforts got to waste by letting you die by something so simple as a blood infection. Sit!"

He manoeuvred her towards a chair, before she could hear him walking to the other side of the room. Quietly so he wouldn't notice she lifted on her blindfold to get a glance of the room she was in. Ari stood with his back against her at the moment, ransacking a backpack of some sort. It was a nice room compared to the other rooms she had been in while captivated. It was somewhat clean, had a bed and a night table. Though the blanket on the bed was poor and madras lacked sheets, it looked very appealing, especially after spending time in the cold dungeon-like room. In the corner was a curtain hiding what most likely was a toilet. It wasn't as cold as the rest of the facility, but it didn't look like a room a man like Ari would have. Judging by his character and what she had experienced, he was a man of luxury. He liked to surrounded himself with fine things to indicate what he had, to show off, even if was only to himself. The feeling that he was significant was more important for him than anything else. He needed to be in control of his surroundings and would create luxury with what he had, no matter what. This bedroom clearly belonged to someone else. Judging by the poor accommodations, it most likely belonged to a person very low on the food chain. She let the blindfold fall quickly back in place when she saw his back turning towards her.

"I know you peeked, Caitlin. I know you too well to know that you wouldn't let go of such a chance. Go on, take it off now..."

Silently she let the blindfold slide off and looked him wondering in his eyes. How did he know? Once again it was as if he knew what she thinking and he replied with a soft voice.

"I told you earlier, I know you... "

He looked into her eyes for a moment before taking a longer rope and bound her to her chair, leaving only her hands free. She sat quietly although she wanted nothing but to fight him back, but she knew that even if she could overpower him there were guards on the outside and if she killed one of their own they would most likely end it off with her with a bullet through her head. So she sat still and watched him tie her up. After securing her so that she couldn't fight against him even if she wanted to, he focused on her wounded hands again. He began with the knife wound but now he was gently as he carefully cleaned the wound before bandaging it. The liquid he used to clean the wound burned a bit, but after he had put the bandages on she felt immediately better. It was strange though, for him to suddenly treat her so nice. Was this a new interrogation technique? To first be cruel and then act nice again. To hurt her and then fix her, making her ready for more? Had it anything to do with Tariq also playing nice? The sudden change was very confusing. To have Ari treating her wound like he was a well trained nurse was something she never had thought she would experience. After taking care of her wound he turned his attention to the fraction with frowning eyes. It was as if he couldn't remember when it had happened. When he squeezed a little she yelled out in pain. This caused his frown to deepen and when he asked her to move her fingers; she could not move them without causing more pain, he sighed. He turned around to his backpack and found two equally long plastic sticks which he adjusted with the knife from his belt so they could fit on her. Then he found some more bandages and carefully he splinted the fraction. Pleased by his work he leaned back in his chair and smiled to her. Still in bit of a shock after this sudden change in him she could do nothing but to stare at him. She was grateful that her wounds had been taken care of, but she still didn't trust him for a moment. His smile did not look comforting. It was a mocking smile she thought; it was as if this was all a game to him.

"So aren't you going to thank me for taking care of you? You know Caitlin; manners are truly not your thing. "

"Well I wouldn't have had these injuries if it hadn't been for you anyway, so no, you will not get a thank you. And you talk about good manners! Kidnapping me from my own home in the middle of the night, forcing me to fight a kung fu-monster and kicking me in the stomach while I am down hardly counts for good manners? Sticking a knife through my hand, dropping me on the floor so I break my wrist is hardly a common etiquette either. And what about that little girl you kidnapped from her home? What had she ever done too you! She is just a little girl and if you have hurt her, I promise you that I will make you pay. Where is she!"

Instead of jumping up, like she had expected him to do after her long list of accusations, he calmly said.

"Anger doesn't become you my dear. Frowning like that will leave wrinkles on your pretty face and we wouldn't want that now, would we? And don't use the word kidnap when we both know that you are happy to be here, alone with me..."

"Don't play around with me... We both know that the only way you could make me happy is if you are lying dead at my feet. Kidnapping an innocent girl, who would have thought you could sink so low? Where is Grace?"

"Now Caitlin you must have heard my rumour; there are many ways I could make a woman like you happy. Especially a pretty little thing like you"

He winked at her before he continued.

"When I said you are happy to be here with me you with me I was telling you the truth even though you can't realise it yet. Because I know, deep down inside you, there is a part that wants to be with me. There is a part of you that have dreamed about me coming into your room at night and take you away. So far away that you didn't have to wonder about what other people thought of you and me together. To lock you away from the rest of the world and hide you. You wanted a dark knight to save you from your conservative self. To bring out the dark in yourself. That was what I saw in you the first time we met. Your eyes were begging me to save you from yourself. To take you with me. That's why you couldn't kill me, because you know I was the only one who could save you... Now you will tell me all I want to know and you will do it willingly or I will be forced to use other methods than merely talking with you. And you will very soon realise that a simple knife through your hand is the least I can do. In the end I can force out every dark little secret you have without spilling a drop of blood, but it will be more painful than you could ever imagine. Oh yes the physical pain will be severe, but you have no idea what I can do with your mind. I can make you love me, adore me and worship me like your master. I can make you draw back in fear if you only hear my name. I can make you believe you are a totally other person than you truly are. In the end I can make you love for me, hate for me and even kill for me. So be wise and tell me what I need to know before I force it out of you..."

As he spoke, he approached her slowly like a hyena circling in its prey. His arrogance infuriated her and she wanted to scream in frustration. Of course she wouldn't tell him everything after a few threats to what he could do to her. In the end he could transform her to anything he wanted, she had seen enough of victims under the influence of trained interrogators before to even think about doubting its power. But he would never get that far with her, before that she would either be dead or long gone. What infuriated her most was his refusal to talk about Grace. It was as if he didn't hear what she was saying and if there was one thing that really pissed her off it was when people didn't pay attention. And these dammed accusations about her wanting him? That deep inside her she wanted a lying, bastard ho kidnapped defenceless children. All she wanted to do right know was to kick him so hard in the groin that his grandchildren could feel it. As he circled around her she felt him once again sneaking up behind her and putting his hands on her.

"I will ask you one more time Ari. Where is Grace?"

As she spoke his name she could feel his hands sink deep into her flesh.

"I told you not to test me like that Caitlin...I thought I made it perfectly clear that if you were to speak to me with that name I would have to punish you? You know the rules for disobeying me Caitlin... I will not have it! Originally I was going to let you get away from this. I was going to give you the chance of having a pleasant conversation with me. Perhaps even give you some food and water? Instead I have to resort to this. It is very effective, trust me, it can get a secret out of a man twice your size. I really had hoped not to do this since it can leave some rather unpleasant side effects... But a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do as you say here in America."

As he spoke he once again started to dig through his backpack before he found what he was looking for. He took up a little black box and put it on the table in front of her. The box contained a syringe and a little bottle containing some illusive liquid.

"This is a mix of Sodium Pentothal and some other components I find very helpful to extract the truth. After I inject this in your body you will immediately feel its effect. You will be relaxed, perhaps a bit woozy and you will find it very difficult to lie. You see the effort of lying will become too complex for you and the words will simply flow from your mouth. If you think you can keep your secrets by staying quiet think again, you will soon notice that it will be impossible to keep your mouth shut. The effort of trying to keep still will however cause an immediately headache that will be worse than anything you have ever felt before. Afterwards you will most likely forget our whole conversation, and in some cases I have found it can even erase those memories we have talked about while you are drugged."

He tapped gently on the syringe to knock the air out of it before approaching her. The thought of being given an unknown extract of some kind of truth serum made the panic rise in Kate. He smiled when he saw her breath becoming frantic. He did not make the situation any better when he took up a rather large knife that he used to cut the sleeve on the sweater of with. The panic was fully rising know, her blood was boiling and she did all she could to get away from him. However the ropes keeping her prisoner was too good tightened and it was impossible to get away.

"Did you know that if you add pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, sodium pentothal is used here in the U.S as a way to execute prisoners? A high overdose administered and the victim is placed rapidly into an induced coma. Luckily for you this will only make you tell the truth, not kill you"

As the needle sank deep into her arm and she felt the liquid flow into her body she screamed at him. She tried to get away, struggled to be free of him. The thought of her blood pumping the drug made her frantic. Tears flooded from her eyes and she screamed a helpless call for help. She hated that he saw her in this state; she wanted to remain strong, not break down so fast. She despised herself in her own eyes, hating the feeling of helplessness more than anything in the world.

It felt like eternity, but probably was only a few minutes before she felt herself relaxing a bit more. Through her tears she could see Ari making himself comfortable on the edge of the bed. He seemed so far away...She looked down at her knees which suddenly looked huge. Were they really that huge? They looked like they belonged to someone else...Slowly she blinked to see again, but this time they too seemed so far away. _What was happening to her?_ She tried to move but something was holding her back. _What was going on? _From far away she could see Ari moving towards her with some kind of stick in his hand. Suddenly he was only inches from her face and he smiled too her before telling her something. The words were incomprehensible and it sounded like a voice recording being played in slow motion. She shut her eyes tight when something bright suddenly shined into her eyes.

"Open your eyes Caitlin; I need to check that you are okay..."

His voice sounded much deeper than usual, but she didn't follow his orders. She kept them as tight as she could and shook her head, but he forced them open like nothing. The flashlight blinded her, but she could hear him grunting that the drug was working.

"Now Caitlin, tell me all about your time with NCIS. Why did you join them after working for the president? Surly it wasn't the pay that tempted you too join them?"

What was he talking about? NCIS...? Why did he want to hear about her work? As she started to speak she could hear her words came out slurry and weird…

"I have worked there since I slept with my co-worker. Gibbs found out when we met, thought he was going to report me but he didn't. After I quit my job he said he wanted me at NCIS. He and Ducky are the only ones who know about it, but they don't judge... "

Why on earth had she told him the reason she quit Secret Service? She never spoke of that to anyone, usually too embarrassed about it. Normally she just told people she had wanted a new job, an environment change. Confused she shook her head, trying to make sense of it all.

"I mean after Gibbs offered me the job, I wanted to work with him. "

"Why did you want to work with Gibbs? Did you want him? Or did you want that other young man, DiNozzo that's right? He is more your' age, handsome, funny, did you want the Italian?"

"No, not him... I mean... No, no, no... You know, well, hmm, I don't know. Not Tony, he is like my brother, just not as psychotic as my brothers. They are really big you know. When they find out that you have taken me they will kick your but! Oh they will. They always took care of me, and they taught me how to fight. You didn't fight me; no you let some other man fight me. Were you scared I would beat you?"

Her words came rambling out; it was as if she couldn't stop talking. Every thought she had just materialized into words. Somewhere deep in her mind she knew that she had to stop talking soon or she would say something she would regret later. Or at least she had focus on things that weren't that important. So she kept accusing him for not daring to fight her until he stopped her with another question.

"You haven't answered my question about old Gibbs yet Caitlin. Are there any feelings between you? Any feelings that don't belong in a professional relationship?"

"Only in the elevator... No, I mean, there are not. He is just my boss, you know, just my boss. The old grumpy caffeine-addict as he always is. You should see him drink coffee. Even when it's really hot outside, he gulps down at least three cups of it. The coffee is always so black as well, never any sugar, milk or cream. Just ordinary black coffee. When he brought me a cup I thought I was going to hurl the first time. It was so strong. And black. His coffee is always black. Very black."

Tiredly she closed her eyes, trying to find some focus again. _What was going on?_ It felt like she had been shotting tequila with Abby, her head was dizzy and she felt nauseous. All she knew was that it was important to keep talking about unimportant things. Coffee was a good subject, it was safe.

"Caitlin, what happened in the elevator between you and special agent Gibbs? "

"Well wouldn't you like to know...? She slurred. It was where I kissed him, but he kissed me back. I didn't mean to love him, it only happened once. When we were fighting. He was not himself because of Grace. Where is Grace? The little girl? You know, he one with the brown hair, big smile, really big smile. What did you do to her?"

"We are not talking about the girl now Caitlin. Focus, we are talking about you and Gibbs. Do you really love him?"

His voice was commanding and demanded answers. Kate found it very difficult to resist him, but a little voice inside her kept screaming that the memory of her and Gibbs was private. He had no right to know about them. She swallowed deep, trying to eat up the words she was thinking. Her head started to hurt as she tried to resist talking; it was like a giant balloon was blown up inside her head.

"It hurts when you try to keep secrets from me Caitlin, I know it does. If you just speak the pain will go away. Tell me Caitlin, do you love Gibbs?"

She wanted the pain to go away so bad, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her succumb. It was as if the ache made her gain some focus again, made it possible to think for a little while. If not she just slurred away without caring. The moment between Gibbs and her was special, telling Ari would only sully the memory. She was panting and she could feel the sweat materialising on her forehead. In agony she screamed a desperate scream to make the pain go away. She didn't want to tell him. As she once again shook her head to him he turned around to his backpack and found something in it. It was a bottle of clear blue water. Before she hadn't noticed quite how thirsty she truly was, but as he waved it in front of her it hit her with full strength. When he opened the bottle it was as if she could smell the water. The cool, delicious smell of it... She was practically drooling over the water. _God she was pathetic_. She wanted nothing but to rip the bottle out of his hands and drink it all up.

"If you give me the answer to the question I asked I will treat you with some water. It's been a while since you have drunk anything isn't it? Will you give me an answer? No? That's too bad, because without any answer you will not be given any water. "

As he spoke he turned the bottle over and she could see the precious water dripping at the floor. _Such a waste._ He moved the bottle toward her and let some of it drip on her thighs. The cold sensation of water dripping on her made her drool. The sound from each drop echoed in her head. How badly she wanted to drink it, and here he was, wasting the precious water.

"Come on Caitlin. It is not an important question. Do you love him? It will not hurt anyone if you answer. You will not betray anyone; this is just between you and me. I want to know if you love Gibbs. You don't have to worry about me telling him or anyone else. It won't hurt you. Just confess and I will give the bottle too you. You can drink it all up. You don't have to be in such agony anymore. If you just answer the question the pain will go away. "

Confused she shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. On one side he was right, what damage could it do, telling him if she loved Gibbs or not. She had forgotten why she shouldn't say it. After all it wasn't a state secret or anything. Just a simple question and then she would stall her thirst. _God she was thirsty_. The cool water on her thigh felt so good and she was parched. But something told her that she shouldn't say it, it was important to keep it for herself. That it was her memory, and he had nothing to do with it!

"Gibbs is my boss and I respect him, that's all! She managed to spit forward."

"Yes Caitlin that I already know so that is not very interesting. What I want to know is, do you love him? "

He leaned up to her face until he was only inches away. His dark eyes seemed almost hypnotizing. His intense glare unsettled her but there was something in his eyes that made it impossible to turn away. She had never realized how dark his eyes were before; it was like looking into eternity. They were dragging her in, making her lose ground. His voice was so commanding and it was so difficult to stay quiet. The headache became worse by the minute making it harder to concentrate.

"Do. You. Love. Gibbs...? TELL ME KNOW!"

He was so powerful and the pressure to tell was so strong. It was as if someone else was controlling her body. The urge to speak was rising. Combined with the desperation of thirst she yelled out yes before even realising she had spoken. As he smiled at her defeat he tossed the rest of the water in her face.

"Very good Caitlin, I knew you would be a good girl in the end..."

As he spoke he went and found another bottle of water which he carefully gave to her. The sensation of the cold water running down her throat was all she could focus on. Never had water tasted so good. Better than any VOSS or other expensive water you could buy from the store. It was simply fantastic. Only after he tossed the empty bottle away it occurred to her that she had given up. That she had lost her first battle against Ari. But the drug in her system made it difficult to care about it. The bliss after water was still clouding her senses, but she felt sad. She had wanted to keep Gibbs a secret, keep him safe within herself. Now Ari had stolen him from her. _I'm sorry Gibbs.._. Too occupied in her own thoughts she didn't notice that Ari held another syringe until the needle penetrated her skin. The effect came almost immediately and she drifted away. She didn't notice Ari untying the ropes that held her tight and carried her to the bed where he gently laid her down. She didn't notice how he carefully tucked some loose hair behind her ear and she didn't notice his soft lips that for a moment caressed hers. As sleep got its' toll on her, all she could feel was the peaceful rest. She drifted away to a place where no one could harm her and she felt safe...

Please leave comments. :) They are my inspiration and motivation to continue.


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for taking so long time between my updates, but I am really busy at the moment. Still I promise that when the holiday comes along chapters will appear more frequently.

After driving around for hours, Gibbs had returned to NCIS, only to find out his worst nightmare was coming true. Someone was targeting the people he loved because of him...

The whole team was now on lock-down. Tony and McGee, who had been surprisingly insightful into Ari's mind, had now ordered everyone to stay inside. Extra guards were patrolling the building and they had all been notified about the pressing danger that threatened the team. After moments of silent accusations for his betrayal of running away, Tony had briefly informed him that they would go down and work in Abby's lab. He hadn't made any attempt to stop them from leaving the bullpen, only nodded to them in approval. Without a word, they had turned away and marched down, not offering him a glance. Previous, such open rebellion against him as a leader would not be taken lightly, but he had felt it was justified. For a moment, he had failed them and now they made him pay for it. He would have done exactly the same thing if he had been in their shoes.

Outside it was pouring down, making it hard to see anything, still he had ordered the labwindows to be covered, just in case if someone tried to make a hit. He had not forgotten that Ari was an excellent sniper and a coldblooded killer. Other preparations were also made to ensure the safety of the team. A bunch of Caf-Pows was stored in Ducky's freezer so that Abby would not have to go outside. Everything going in to the lab was thoroughly examined for any potential dangers. After ensuring that Abby was indeed safe, he had slumped down at his desk, the thoughts of a captured and scared Kate nagging his mind. Since they had received the photo of Kate, he had been in a daze. It was as if nothing around him meant anything anymore. People had been moving by, talked to him but they just could not break through his shield. It wasn't until the safety of his loved ones were jeopardized he snapped back into reality. He could not afford to lose his focus now that was exactly what Ari wanted. He could not do anything good for his team, Kate or Grace walking around like a bloody zombie! He had to remain in control over the situation, cause if he broke down, he would never see Kate again... His glance was fixated on her desk. It was neat as always, not a single paper gone astray. But that was tyhe way she liked it, order had always been important for Kate. _Kate..._He growled, if Ari as much as touched her he would kill him. A quick glance at his watch and he estimated that it had been around 24 hours since he discovered that Kate was missing. That meant she had been in the hands of that monster for over a day and a night. _He was going to kill him._ The fact that he had had his chance to kill him, but did not do it because of a bloody order, was almost more than he could take. If he had only shot him through his heart, not the shoulder, then Kate and Grace would be safe. It was because of him that Ari had them, and he swore that he would return them alive. Though he had all the faith in the world that Kate was strong, he knew the evil inside Ari. A man without remorse, a man without compassion who only lived to cause pain... From their previous encounters it was clear that he had been well trained. Ari knew how to cause maximal pain with minimum effort. He was the worst kind of killer, the type that would do anything to achieve his goals, despite the destructions that followed his path. If they found Kate too late, she would have lost her fire, lost the sparks that gave her a will to live and fight on. No one could fight a battle against the devil forever...

The thought of her broken and wrecked forced him to move. He could not just sit there and dwell about his misery; he had to do something about this! After a quick stop to get a Caf-Pow, he stood outside the lab. It was so quiet down there you could hear a needle drop. The only sound was the buzzing from the machines and the clicking off a keyboard. The music that normally pounded from the speakers was dead and he found that curiously enough, he missed the dreadful noise. The normal chitchat among his team was also absent, it was as if someone had died in there. . As he entered the room, he could see McGee sitting at the computers, searching for something among a list of figures and numbers. Tony was behind the glass, writing something on a piece of paper, he did not even lift his head as his boss entered the room. Finally his eyes found the one person he was most anxious to see. Abby was sitting on the floor, hugging Bert tightly to her chest. Her eyes met his and he could read the disappointment in them. The accusations he felt himself could easily be read in her eyes. The pain, agony and anger floating towards him in a wordless accusation. _She blamed him as well..._

Never before had he seen his team so in pieces. Usually, it was their tight bonds that made them so special, but now they had lost their collaboration. They had drawn back into their shells, working separately instead of combining their individually skills. As their leader, boss and friend he could not watch them do the same mistakes as he earlier had done. The fact that he ran away earlier, did not set the best example. After the brief moment of success with finding Ari's next move, they had sunken into the same misery as him. With a heavy sigh, he knew what to do. Better to shake them out of it, than to cuddle with them he thought before slamming the Caf-Pow on the table. McGee jumped, but Abby sat still until he dragged her up from the floor. Behind the glass, DiNozzo had discovered his boss's presence and quickly made his way to the others. Soon they all stood in line, like neat, but a tad reluctant soldiers. Though they all respected him as a boss, the resentment for his earlier betrayal could easily be read in their eyes.

"What do you got?"

No one answered his question. Tony was looking at Abby, obvious hoping that she had something good. McGee turned his fixation to his shoes, hoping that someone else would be the first in the heat. Abby was only one staring back at him, silently daring him to ask her.

"Abby, you first"

With a flat, but steady voice, she began summoning up her findings.

"The door had no signs of being forced open, nor were there any signs of it being picked. Whoever opened it had to have a key, or it was Kate who opened it from the inside. Being her friend I can say that both of those methods are very unlikely, Kate is the most careful person I know. She always carries her keys with her and would never lose them. If she were to lose them, she would not have slept at home until the locks had been changed. And I promise you that she would not have opened the door to a freak like Ari, or any person who appeared threatening. If Ari was the one who abducted her, he is working with someone who appears trusting enough so that they could get Kate to open the door. No way Kate would open the door to danger!"

At the end, her voice was shaking and she took a moment to compose herself. After a deep breath and a solid squeeze on Bert, she continued.

"There were no fingerprints on the door; it has been wiped clean with something very strong, as I cannot find any traces of anything on it. Not sweat, rainwater, not even a trace from Kate. I tried testing it for chloride or any other known chemicals that remove traces in such a way, but I have yet to find a match. The blood on the floor matches Kate. After I examined the carpet, I found a small hair sample in the blood, also matching Kate. Making it most likely a head wound. Judging by the splatter Kate was hit while she was moving, indicating that she was fighting back whoever hit her. She did not give up without a fight The blow came from above, making it a very tall person who hit her. We all know that despite Ari being a real bastard he is not very tall, probably around my height, but not much taller. The person who fought Kate was nearly 2 meters high, and unless Ari was wearing high-heeled boots, I seriously doubt that he was the one doing the fighting.. "

A moment of silence followed her last comment, everyone was busy digesting the facts she had just presented, then Tony started to talk.

"A large person would stand out would they not? And a large person with fighting skills good enough to beat Kate would definitely stand out. If we compare that to any known accomplices with Ari than we could find this man?"

"I could do a search boss, McGee hopped in. By determine his height and skills we could have a possible accomplice."

"Okay, do any of you have anything else?"

They both looked at each other; the answer could be read in their eyes.

"No boss, we don't"

"But we will, soon."

He sighed, wanting to slap them both for not coming up with anything useful, but the twitch of guilty consciences, told him that it was truly his own fault stopped him. He sighed, what he was about to do, needed to be done, but he still resented doing it. It had never been easy for him, admitting his own mistakes, and now here he was, doing it for the second time in one week. It truly couldn't be healthy...

"I am not proud over how I acted earlier today, for letting you down and running off"

Whatever they expected, hearing Gibbs admitting he had done something wrong, was definitely not what they had in mind. Shocked they stood there, staring at their boss.

"I should not have left you like that, and I won't do it again. I left you in the moment you needed me the most and left the control to you. You took responsibility when I did not. You figured out his next move and did everything right. But after that, I can see how you are affected by my behaviour. Sitting around separately? Working alone, while moping in your own misery? This is not how we do it here on my team. We communicate; we do what we need to do so we can make progress. Now I need all of you to think outside the box again. We need to tie Ari to this abduction so we can make our case. So far, we have no evidence that he is the one behind this, and I need the proof that Ari's stinking ass had something to do with this. If I get it, we can put pressure on the director, who then can put pressure on Mossad. If we don't present evidence they will not admit in having a rouge agent."

It was not the best apology, it was more admitting that he had done something wrong and they accepted it.

"DiNozzo! You will dig up every little bit of information on Ari you can find. Call his old friends from his school; call his teachers, women, everyone you can think of. I want to know everything there is to know about the bastard. How he thinks, where he would go, what he would buy. Anything to help us trace him. It is time we get into his head. McGee, you go over her computer again. If Ari used it to spy on her, I want the proof. If the computer is dead you look into her pocket ting, PGA or something."

"It's a PDA boss"

"It don't matter what it's called, you know what I mean. Abby, I need you to go over every, last trace of evidence one more time. You have done a good job, but look for anything that can help pin Ari's ass to floor.

A moment of silence followed his speech. It took a while absorbing what he had just said, but then, almost instantaneously, they all aye'd and saluted him with a "Yes Boss".

"Good"

Then he turned around and walked back to the elevators. As he hit the button, the steps of someone running could be heard. His breath was almost beaten out of him as a pair of arms slammed against his chest.

"I am sorry for being so angry with you!" Abby sobbed. "It was just that when you left I thought you gave up. And you Gibbs you don't give up. You're supposed to be strong and good. And Gibbs doesn't leave when I need him. I needed you earlier and you let me. And now that psychopath is after me too, and you weren't there. You said that you would always protect me, as you would protect Kate. And then Kate is gone, taken for the third time by that man. And then I thought... I thought you would never come back. That Ari had you too. I don't know what I would do without you. And... and... and..."

The rest of what she was trying to say became incomprehensible as she sobbed into his back. Silently he turned around and put his arms around her. For a long time, they just stood there, clinging to each other. Abby weeping into his chest yearning for some comfort and support, while Gibbs was calmly stroking his hand, up and down her back, whispering comforting words in her ear, trying to ease her pain.

"It's going to be fine Abs. We will find her. We have to find her"

Sobbingly she nodded before looking up at him with glistening eyes.

"You stay strong for me and I will be strong for you. Together we will pull through. I have said it before, but I will say it again, we will find her. We will find Kate and save her."

Her head was aching. Mouth was as dry as cotton. _What the hell was going on?_ Something was pressing into her back. Uncomfortable she wriggled around and realised that it was the sheets on the bed that was curled into a bump under her back. _What had happened yesterday? _It felt ten times worse than when she and Abby had gone clubbing. Slowly she tried to focus on the last thing she remembered. _Blue eyes... Gibbs... There had been a kidnapping. Then...?_ She focused harder; something about a giant? Suddenly it all came back to her. _Ari. Tariq. The knife. Interrogation_. There was something important she needed to remember. It had something to do with Gibbs, but she just could not grasp it. They had to have drugged her with something, but it was impossible to remember. Had she eaten anything or drunk something? Had they injected something in her? _God her head hurt! _It felt like Tariq had used her head for a ping pong-ball and then sat on it. She wondered where she was. She was lying in a bed, that much was clear, but when had she gotten a bed? As she slowly opened her eyes, she could see she was in a different room. They must have moved her from her previous cell, not that she complained about that, this room was a serious upgrade from the dap cell, but it made her wonder. What had she done to be rewarded with a more comfortable room? It was terrifying not being able to remember what she had done_. God she hoped she hadn't betrayed Gibbs_. The room seemed familiar, but the memory was faded. Confused she tried to move only to discover her hands and legs tied together, and the ropes were digging into her flesh. It took a moment to realise that she was pinned to the bed like a giant human x. Feeling utterly exposed and vulnerable she dragged in the ropes, but they were tightened too taut.

The room lay in darkness, but her eyes quickly adjusted. She could distinguish the contours of two chairs in the corner with a small table. Slowly, so not to cause more pain she turned and saw a curtain covering the corner in the room. It reminded her of a shower curtain but she highly doubted that there was a shower behind it. More likely a toilet, or a potty or something. _God she needed to pee_. It had been over 24 hours since last time she went, and now she was aching. Her bladder pressing into her jeans. She hadn't needed it before, but then she hadn't drunk anything for a while. Clearly, she had been drinking something in the time she couldn't remember and now she had to pay for it. Though as much as she resented it, she started to yell for someone to get in. There was no way that she would pee all over herself. The fact that her legs was spread to the widest and adding extra pressure, did not improve the situation, but she bit her teeth together, trying to stay calm. She was disoriented, nauseas and really, really needed to go. She would do what she needed to do to keep herself calm and not at least clean. After about a minute of screaming, she could see the door began to move. It was difficult to see who entered, but his voice was familiar.

"You rang?"

His voice was dripping with sarcasm and detest. Obviously, this person did not like her. _Well, fine by her, she didn't like anyone who abducted her either... _They way he stood and his relaxed arms told her that he enjoyed the power he held over her. It was annoying to not being able to see his face, and it truly bugged her being in a position where she needed to beg for help, instead of fighting free.

"I need to go."

"Go?"

"Yes go. You know. I am in need of a toilet."

Though it was difficult to spot, she could feel that the man in the doorway was grinning to her.

"Then by all means, just go."

"And where do you suggest I go? The bed? That's just disgusting. And very unhygienic? Could you please untie me and let me use a bathroom?"

She resented the begging tone in her voice, but it clearly was the best way to get what she wanted. By giving him power and making herself subordinate he was more reclined to give her what she wanted. _Win them over with charm_. From what she could tell, he clearly enjoyed his situation and the position she was spread out in did not improve the situation. She thought it best not to provoke him, indicating that he held all power might make him succumb to her wishes. She knew it was bad psychology but it was the best she could think of in her drugged state of mind.

Slowly he approached the bed and she could not hold back a gasp when she saw who it was. _Bassam..._1He smiled when he saw she recognized him, but it was an evil smile that didn't reach up to his eyes. Obviously he had been looking forward to this. Pure hatred radiated from his eyes and she steeled herself for what to come. Seeing him again was something she had not expected. She had thought he was behind bars in Gitmo. She had thought she was safe from him. One look at him and she could see that he hadn't forgotten how she punched him. Anxiously she waited for him to make his move.

"I have waited for you to come back you know. When Haswari told me that we were going to take you back, I was very pleased. You are going to get what you deserve now. First by Haswari, and when he is done with you, it is my turn. I am sure we will have very much fun together."

He put extra pressure on fun and smiled wickedly to her as she tried to hold down a shiver. _Surely Ari wouldn't give her to him?_ Though he was a mean bastard who tortured her and all, but she had always had the feeling that she cared somewhat about her. Not that she trusted him or anything, after all he was the one who tortured her, but at least she knew what to expect from him. Bassam was an entirely other case. More like a dog with rabies, than the cool calculated snake Ari was.

As he bended over to her, she tried her best not to look scared. He had said himself that he would get her after Ari was done, and clearly, he wasn't done yet. From what she remembered she hadn't told them any vital information and that meant that she wasn't broken. As if he could smell her fear, he slowly let his hands run over her body. She twitched away from him, as if his fingers burned her skin, but it was of no use. His fingers slowly caressed her skin working its way from her stomach and up to her breasts. She held back a whimper as he suddenly dug his fingers hard into them. Then, leisurely he started massaging them while he whispered in her ear:

"We will have plenty of time doing this later won't we? When you have learned your true place. Then you will eagerly succumb to me and you will enjoy it. You American women are all just the same. On the outside, you act like these prude bitches, but you truly love it, don't you? You just want someone to take control over you. Like whores..."

His words came out slowly, almost as he tasted the words before letting them leave his mouth.

"But you needed to go you said. I think that it can be arranged as long as you act nice to me."

His breath became shallow and deep and slowly she could feel his hand making it way down her body. As he caressed her lower abdomen, he pressed it lightly and laughed as he saw her struggle. The urge to go was growing and she was afraid that she could not hold it back anymore. She had bit the inside of her cheeks to blood while he was talking, trying her best not to spit on him. If she only remained quiet perhaps, he would let her go. She watched him draw out a knife from his boot and cut through the ropes holding her down.

"Get up now. Behind that curtain is toilet you can use. Even though you are a filthy whore, there is no reason for you to smell like the animal you truly are. But I warn you, if you try to play any tricks on me, any tricks at all, I will hurt you. It is my right. And afterwards, when I am tired of you, I will just pass you on like the piece of garbage you are. You are worthless..."

His words stung, but she tried not to let him get too her. If he managed to make her feel less than she was, he would win. _It is you who are worthless_. Slowly she stood up; her feet were shaking from exhaustion and her head was spinning. Whatever they had given her earlier it had been something powerful enough to knock her out. Combined with the lack of food and water, made it difficult to see straight. Bassam did nothing to help her, just stood and watched her, enjoying her struggles. Slowly, so not to fall over she managed get over to the curtain. Behind it was a very old toilet, it looked like something she would have imagined belonging on Alcatraz. It was not filthy, but years of use had clearly taken its toll on it. As she turned to close the curtain, she heard the one thing she hoped she would not hear.

"Just leave it open will you? Cannot risking having you doing something you are not supposed to do."

She wanted to go as far as to beg him, but in his eyes, she could see it was helpless. This was just a way degrade her, to make her feel humiliated. Her bladder was pressing so hard into her jeans that it was hurting. _Never mind him..._ If he wanted to degrade her, she would just show him that it was not possible; she was stronger than him. Honestly, she was too tired to fight him as well; exhausted and still drugged it was difficult to care about a bastard like him. As she sat down, she could see the anger growing inside him. Clearly, he had expected her to beg and plead him, not shrug her shoulders and continue...

"You disgust me...Filthy little whore. "

She ignored his insults that came rambling down on her. _He is nothing. He is nothing. He is nothing_. It became her mantra as she tried to lock him out of her head. She had to go, and it was he who didn't allow her to close the curtain. She had always been a survivor and he was nothing. Merely a guard to watch her, not high on the rank, obviously. As she finished up, she tried her best to hide her more intimate parts. Though he had seen her on the toilet, it did not mean that she would show him everything. As catholic, she had never been the kind of girl who just showed everything to anybody. And after his little show-off and indications off what he wanted to do with her, she could not be too careful.

With a nod towards the bed, she understood that he wanted her to lie down again. She dreaded being unable to move again. Being held down defenceless by this man, this man who truly hated her and wanted to humiliate her. The anger she felt towards him made her blood boil and it became hard to breathe. She could not just let him take advantage of her.

"Get in the bed now."

His voice was commanding, but it lacked the magnitude that Ari possessed. In some way Bassam seemed dumber than Ari, he lacked the class and witty comments. While Ari could send chills down her back by a simple "hello" Bassam was low-class and vulgar. He was brutal, but only showed his cruel nature when his victims could not hurt him back. _Coward._

"Move! Now!"

She realised she had been lost for a few minutes and he was clearly annoyed over not having her entire attention. Now he stood swinging his knife carelessly and from what she could see, he was clearly skilled with it. She was not afraid of the pain, but found it best not to aggravate him anymore. Playing the helpless victim could make them loose their guards around her and she could more break free. _Let them only see my mask..._ As she laid down on the bed and prepared herself for the coming torment, he took up the ropes and made a new knot before securing her arm. He smiled wickedly to her before tightening extra around her broken wrist. The sticks used to support her broken wrist pressed into her flesh and she struggled to keep her breath even, but she could not hold in a gasp as he tightened it one last time. Bassam smiled, pleased with her gasp of pain, but her vision was becoming cloudy. Her head was dizzy from the exhaustions and she wanted nothing more than to rest, but as long as Bassam was in the room, she would not give herself the pleasure of closing her eyes. They stared at other for what seemed like forever, a battle between two strong wills. She did not want to give up, but as she watched him, a plan slowly took place. _Let them think you are breaking down..._She looked away from him and pretended to try to hold in a sob. Faking a sob was not too difficult and she could hear him standing up and looking down at her. A large gob of salvia hit her face the instant she tried to look up at him. The feeling it running slowly down her face dripping down on her body was disgusting but she froze still.

"You disgust me!"

Then he marched up and slammed the door behind him. Hastily she rubbed her head against the pillow, trying to get rid of every last trace of him. His salvia smeared into the pillow and she could swear it smelled of pure evil. She would give her life for a shower she thought, but as things were, she had to settle with rubbing it off as best as she could. Then she struggled to push the pillow away with her head and was satisfied as it hit the floor. Exhausted from the efforts she laid back panting. As she drifted off to slumber, the plan settled in her mind and a smile appeared on her face. At least she would go down in a fight.

**In the next chapter, I plan to have Kate doing something razy. Are you ready for that? ;)**

1 Bassam – The terrorist who punched Kate in Reveille and whom Kate punched back. Holds a grudge against her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay, finally the next chapter is here. I was finished with this for a while ago, but had an emergency in the family so I could not get to a computer. The next chapter will be up an running in no time, I promise though. Hopefully before the week is over. **

**I would also like to thank all of you who have taken the time to review my story. Though I have not replied any of you yet, remember that I am eternally grateful**

As she slowly woke from her slumber, she felt more like her old self again. She was still hungry and unbelievable thirsty, but the dizziness was almost gone and headache could hardly be noticed. The room was freezing, and she longed for something to snuggle up in. A blanket, a sweater and a pair of woollen socks would be heaven. Goosebumps crept up her spine and made her shiver. Also this time, the room was empty, but someone had loosened the ropes, so with a bit of struggle she could sit up. She inspected her hands with fierce interest, examining the bandages. Neither hurt much anymore, not that pain had lessened; it was more a numb feeling in her body. As if her mind was separated from her body. It was frightening not remembering yesterday events. It felt like it was on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't reach it. _What the hell had they given her?_ By the look of the bandages, Ari had played nurse again. She shook her head, trying to place some order in it but it was useless. Whatever Ari had given her it had wiped out the yesterdays experience, quite sufficiently. It was like a blur, some things were clearer than others, but still it didn't help much. _Okay, she needed to focus. If she were ever going to get out of the hellhole, she needed a clear mind._ Focusing on what she could remember for yesterday, she started to recite the things she could remember, trying to sort some order in the chaos.

She had woken up in her usual cell yesterday, that she was sure off. Tariq had walked her here. It had been cold and they went further down. What was it with Tariq yesterday? It had been important to remember... Something of him being kind? Not like the monster he looked like. She could not be sure of it, but it felt right. Tariq could be useful.

Ari had played nurse. It was not a memory, but it seemed the most logical thing, considering he had been in charge of her. She had still not forgotten how he had insisted on icing her lip the time Bassam had punched her. He didn't like disorder. More likely, it was a torture method. First hurt her, and then heel her before hurting her again. Like playing good cop, bad cop, all by himself.

Bassam was guarding her door. Most likely, he had a co-guard as well, but it was frightening to think about that the man, who hated her most in the world, was just outside her door. And here she was, helpless, to his great amusement. He had made it very clear what he was going to do with her after Ari was finished with her.

She shivered, but an anger without comparison rose in her body by the thought of that scumbag. _No way he was ever going to lay a hand on her._ _She would find her way out before he got a chance._ The escape plan just needed some polishing. Then everything would be better. The first thing she really wanted, was to check out her surroundings. Being blindfolded was highly annoying when she needed to check out where she was. But Ari knew how observant she were and it was highly unlikely that he would ever let her see the outside. However, a cover over her eyes had not deprived her of other senses. The damp walls indicated that she was still underground. From what she could remember, they had walked downhill to get here. _178 steps!_ The number popped up in her head the moment she thought about her journey down. Counting on that she was still in the same room, she was probably in the basement of the building. She had a possible plan, but if it failed, she would probably have to pay hard for it. Perhaps even by death. Considering her odds of being raped, humiliated and then slaughtered, she would much more prefer to go down fighting. _Now or never!_ Making her decision, she started to yell for somebody to come in into the room again. When Bassam entered the door, she was pleased in a sick way. If anybody deserved what she was about to do, it was that scumbag.

"I need to use the bathroom again."

She did her best to sound weak and defeated, and not to show her newfound energy. If he suspected an act of rebellion, he would never release her. Luckily for her, Bassam had not been chosen for his brain. Though he could not let the chance go by without taunting her, he let her go after a few minutes. Her scared whimpers and quiet sobs as he touched her, were enough to satisfy his evil mind. The moment he released her legs, she seized the chance. A kick powerful enough to make even Tariq fall over, placed on his head, was sufficient to knock him out. As quick as she could, she dragged the ropes and tied his hands behind his back with a knot that even would make Gibbs proud. The knife he used to cut her lose, she used to cut out a large foam piece from the madras, before gagging him with it. He lay still the entire time, and for a moment, she was afraid she had seriously injured him before she remembered what he was going o do with her. He was going to rape her! In a rage she had never felt before, she spat him in face. _That was for humiliating her!_ Then she placed his knee in his groin and was pleased by the expression of pain that floated over his face. _That was for thinking he had the right to touch her._ Hopefully now, he would never have any children, and with any luck, he would never be able to get an erection. She should have cut it off she thought bitterly, but an act that cold was beyond her.

Quietly, she dragged his boots and socks off. Though she had expected smelly feats, she was pleasantly surprised to see that he was careful to keep himself clean. For a moment, she pondered if he prayed outside her cell, before coming in and torture her. Praying for a god who wanted nothing more than love, but some people used as an excuse to do bad things. She could not waste time, sitting around, thinking about praying terrorists. Quickly she slipped the shoes on and enjoyed the warmth spreading. Having cold feet was the worst she knew. The moment the thought slipped through her mind she stopped, it felt like forever since she had anything that resembled a normal thought. Shaking her head once more to maintain in control she searched him through, seeing if he had any other weapons on him. Surprisingly she found none, but they probably did not expect to need more on a tied up woman. They should have known better. Ari should have known better...

Slowly she made her way to the door, remembering everything Gibbs had thought her about slitting throats. Gibbs had once made it mandatory to go through every aspect of what he considered necessary to know as an agent, plus some more. Before, she had never imagined herself as the person who could sneak up on people, and silently slit their throat. However, it seemed she was a natural at the job. It did not hurt that she was small by nature and had the gift of moving, without making a sound. She had managed to sneak up on Gibbs, and with that she were the only one who managed to do it on the second chance. Tony had managed it after her, on pure determination. He had been humiliated by the fact that an agent with lower range than him could outsmart him. Poor McGee needed six chances before managing the art. Though the had both teased him about the many chances he needed, she had been secretly proud of him. She would never have believed that the chubby, clumsy young man would ever manage to sneak up on an ex-marine. But, he was like a swamp, sucking up every bit of information they gave him, and each time getting a little better. One day, he would be better than her and Tony put together, she was sure of it.

Carefully, she opened the cell door and looked out. She was in the end of a long hallway. On each side there were different doors, it reminded her of the hallway from the shining. Except for the lacking of carpets on the floor, the two dead twins, and the blood flooding down the hallway. From what she could tell, the corridor was empty, lit up by something that reminded her of old canteen lamps. It was like a bad cliché from a horror movie.

Silently she sneaked her way out, listing after any sound that indicated people were coming. With a tight grip, she held on to the knife, no one was going to take her down.

The hallway was not very long, but it felt like it was going forever. She stopped as a noise suddenly could be heard. The door in the end of the hallway was being opened! Without hesitation, she ripped up the door closest to her, and threw herself in. Praying that the room was empty she held her knife tight. A quick glance around was enough to relax her and silently she closed the door behind her. One ear pressing to the door she listened after whoever had opened the door. Two people, speaking in what sounded like Arabic, could be heard, and she waited until they had passed her door, before she dared moving again. She hadn't realised that she had held her breath until her lungs was once more filled with air. Adrenaline was pulsating through her body; it felt like her heart was in her throat. It took a self-inflicted Gibbs-smack to get back down on earth. Usually she worked best under pressure, but the last days had affected her more than she first thought. The heavy breathing made her feel out of shape, useless and weak. _She was not weak!_ As so many times before, when anger floated through her it made her stay calm and focused. Then she started examine the room. Perhaps there was something useful in it. The flicker of hope that fluttered in her heart was quickly put down as she realised it was just a cell. Similar to the one she first had been in, but with a table and two chairs. Interrogation of some sort, she thought to herself.

As silent as possible, she slid out of the cell, and then out the door from where she had heard the two persons enter. She came out to a large staircase; it was well lit up, with no dark corners to hide in. It took a moment to get used to the light. Tears flooded her eyes and she kept blinking, trying to adjust her eyes to the bright light. Days in darkness had taken its toll on her and she found it difficult to see anything clearly. Still, she had to keep moving. When those people found out she was missing she would be toast. to It was her only option to get out, but it was terrifying to think off, if anyone were to come down, she would be stuck. They would probably have guns as well and there was not much she could do, with only a knife at her command. However, she vowed to herself, if she were going down she would take so many she could with her.

Anyway, she needed to move fast. The two people she had heard going down were probably going down to her cell, and soon they would find Tariq, bound and gagged. Trying to move as fast she could, she started climbing up the stairs. Still clinging on to her knife, her whole body was tense, ready to strike if someone came. The moment her foot touched the top of the first stair, she could hear the door in the cellar opening. The panic started to rise again, but she forced herself to stay calm. Throwing herself in the first door she saw, before turning around, just to face hallway similar to the one she had just left. There were still no windows, and the moist on the walls indicated that it was still underground. _What was it with these people and dungeons?_ Hearing steps behind her she quickly decided to try the door to her left. Opening the door without making a noise, she snuck in.

She almost let out a scream when she saw whose room she had entered. On a small bed lay the large figure of Tariq. He appeared to be sleeping, but she knew that a man like him could wake up by even the tiniest noise. There were no weapons in the room that she could use, and with the very puritan room, there were nowhere to hide either. _Except... Could she do it...?_ As silent as she could, she let herself down on the floor and crawled under his bed. Rolling, until she was pressed against the wall, she lay still. It had not been a moment too late, for only a few seconds later the door to the room was slammed open. Tariq large feet hit the floor almost instant and she saw that he was ready for battle. Thanking the gods that he had not discovered her while sneaking in, she held her breath trying to stay undiscovered.

"Jallah jallah! Caitlin!" Ari's voice filled the room.

Though she did not speak Arabic, she understood perfectly well that they had discovered her escape. _Well_ _this certainly made things more difficult_. From under the bed, she watched them exit the room, two hunters on the chase. Soon enough they would have performed a search, and then they would find out that she was not in the cellar. After that they would most likely work their way up and capture her in his room. Slowly she crawled out and started to examine the room. There were no weapons there, nothing she could use to defend herself. So she was still stuck with nothing more than a knife. Looking down in herself, she realised that to be captured by a group of angry, Arabic men who saw upon her as garbage, was not ideal looking like this. Her once so fine sweater had been torn up and it lacked a rather large piece on her arm. Her trousers were filthy but they would just have to do. A quick search in Tariq closet provided her with a large t-shirt that was more like a sweater on her. Tucking it in the trousers so that it would not get in her way, she was ready for more combat. She also found a pair of crackers, which she swallowed down like a hungry wolf. Her throat was raw after too little water, but it was better than nothing. In the last couple of days, her stomach had shrunken and the crackers were enough to leave her not-starving anymore. After she was satisfied with her appearances and her stomach wasn't growling anymore, she put her ear against the door and listened after sounds. Outside it was quiet, but she could hear the distant callings from what she assumed were people looking after her. She took a deep breath to calm herself, before slowly opening the door. There were no one in the hallway, but any moment now, someone could come marching in. The hope of escaping was shrinking by every minute, but she had a new plan.

Somewhere on this floor there had to be a cell phone or a computer. One way or the other she would make contact with Gibbs and then he could get McGee to trace the call. Piece of cake, she told herself, trying to ease up a bit. After finding a phone, she would have to hide it so that even if she were caught they would not discover that she had made a call and turn the phone off. So she sneaked down the hallway, listening after other people, and when she heard the room was empty she examined it. The same time she looked after hiding places, but it was a useless as her search for a phone. Most rooms were as empty as Tariq's, with nothing but a bed and a dresser. It seemed as if they had anticipated that someone would come snooping around and had therefore removed all helpful supplies. More likely, this was only a temporary hideout place and they were just ready to move fast if they had to. She was just going through a backpack near a bed when she heard the door behind her opening. Quickly she turned around and hid behind the door. A young man, not older than twenty-five entered the room. The half-opened backpack lay on his bed, but he did not notice it at first. He had the arrogant walk of someone who thought he owned the world. But he seemed so young; she could not bear to kill him with cold blood. She would not reduce herself to their level and kill people just because they were in her way. The moment his eyes landed on the mess on his bed and he opened his mouth to call alarm she made her move. With a fast movement, she had put her knife against his throat and whispered coldly in his ear.

"One sound and I will kill you like a dog."

Her voice sounded strange in the silent room, it was as if she were another person. A person who could kill people without offering it a single thought. His Adams apple moved slowly as he swallowed down. She could sense his fear, but also the anger within him for being captured by her. That she had managed to sneak up on him and he had not even noticed it. He had disgraced himself.

"If I shout they will find you. You will be taken back again, and then killed"

"Perhaps that is true, but then you will be dead. With a single cut here, you will bleed out slowly on the floor beneath my feat. Imagine that, being sliced up like an animal and then you will for always be remembered as the man who let a woman sneak up on him."

He swallowed deeply, considering her words. She knew it was true and he knew it too. That being taken down, by a captured, American woman did not count as something valuable. He would not be considered a soldier of god, not considered as died in battle. If you acted like a dog, you died like a dog.

"This is my proposition and listen closely, because I will only tell you this once. You will tell me everything I need to know to get out of here or send a message to my friends and I will not tell a soul that I had you pinned down like a little girl and that you did not even dare to fight back. Or you try to mess with me and I will slit your throat and tell everybody what a coward you are. No do you have a cell phone or a weapon on me. "

The young man swallowed deeply once more. A sweat pearl was slowly running down his forehead and she could see that he knew she was serious.

"If you do not answer I will also kill you, let you lie in your own pool of blood while I search your dead body. "

"One phone, left pocket. Knife by my hip. "

His voice was macaronic and thick with fear. He clearly despised himself at the moment, for being captured so easily, but that was none of her concern.

"That wasn't so hard now was it?"

She smiled sweetly, before placing a solid blow to the back of his head. With a load slump, he fell to floor, momentarily passed out. Quick as she could she turned him over and searched his pockets. In the left pocket was indeed a phone and he had a knife placed on his hip. Watchfully she eyed the door, wondering if any had heard it, but no one came in. Then she focused on the phone, the setting was all in Arabic and she did not understand any of it. _Damit!_ A bit put out by this surprise she stared dumbly at the phone before reality snapped back. How hard could it really be? Counting on that the numbers were on the right places she dialled the number, she knew only too well. The dial tone rang in her ear and she held her breath. _Please pick up, please pick up!_

"Yeah Gibbs"

_Thankgod!_

"Gibbs it's me..."

"Kate? Where are you? Are you alright?"

"I don't know where I am Gibbs. They had me blindfolded the entire trip. I was knocked out so I don't know how far away. Can you get McGee to trace me?"

"He's already on it. Kate. Tell me everything you know"

"It was Ari, Gibbs. He came in the night, when I was sleeping. I tried to fight them. I really did my best Gibbs, but it wasn't good enough"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered her miserable loss. The helplessness fully returned and her breath became more frantic.

"Kate! Kate! Listen to me. You have to stay calm. I will find you. I promise that I will find you and bring you home. Now is there any place you can hide? I need you to stay as safe as you can until I come to get you."

"I don't know Gibbs. They are all looking for me. I have taken out two of Ari's men so I'm guessing their pissed with me. Bassam wants me dead... How did Bassam get here Gibbs? I thought he was in Gitmo... Why did they just let him go when I testified that he was one of the terrorist plotting to kill the president and Sharon?"

"Bassam is there? Okay Kate, I need you to tell me everything there is to know about where you are. Any detail at all. You know more than you think, and you also know it will help me. Smells? Sounds? Anything?"

"I am somewhere by the ocean Gibbs. It smelled of ocean when they brought me in and I could hear the seagulls. And it is in some kind of concrete building. The walls are moist and cold, like I'm undersea or something. At first, I was put in the basement, in a cell. Now I am one floor up and I still can't hear anything from the outside. I think that a large part of this building is underground or it has so thick walls that you cannot hear anything from the outside ever. There is no windows here either."

As she spoke of her surroundings, she could feel herself relaxing. She had always been good on observation she could almost imagine this to be a drill. Following his command also always had a relaxing effect on her.

"Kate you are doing so well. I am proud of you"

Her heart swelled as she heard his words. _This was going to be okay._

"Kate, tell me how many people you have seen. There more information you can give the better."

At that moment, the door in front of her started to open again. Kate froze in her movements, just staring at the door.

"Kate? Kate talk to me!"

Gibbs voice sounded so far away. All she could focus on was the door that was slowly opening. It seemed as if it took forever, that she just froze and watched the door for eternity. Then reality snapped back. Quickly she changed the phone from her right hand to the left and held her knife with a tight grip. She could fight them.

"Gibbs, listen to me. So far, I have met four people, but by the look of this building, it is a much larger organisation. One man, named Tariq, he is like a giant. The others are Bassam and Ari. The last man is an old man. Clearly the boss, fancy suit, expensive taste. Smokes a cigar, you know the type. Cold eyes."

In front of her, the door was now fully opened and she looked into the eyes of a clearly shocked man. Here she was standing over his friend's unconscious body, talking in a cell phone and holding a knife. Probably not what he expected to see. For a moment, he just watched her before he yelled load in Arabic. Running feet's could be heard and three other men came into the room.

"Now I am looking at four men Gibbs. All Arabic, that seems to be the trademark around here. Come and find me Gibbs, I can't fight them all alone. I love you!"

That was her last words she spoke at him, before tossing the phone on the bed. The other hand quickly picked up the second knife and she stood still, waiting them out. She would not give up without giving them a proper fight. If they thought she would just lay down and die they could not have been more wrong. Kate Todd, a fighter, not Caitlin who Ari thought he could control. _Kate, not Caitlin..._

"Stay back," she ordered, her voice surprisingly strong. The men only paused for a minute before moving forward slowly. Slowly they circled her in like predators hunting their prey. Eying slowly the knife's in her hands, probably wondering if she were any good with them. One man rushed her then, and she sidestepped, sending him tumbling forward. Taking the hint, two others advanced on her, one managing to get a hold of her arm while the other tried to throw a punch.

Kate reacted instantly, ducking down to avoid the hit as she lashed with the knife, causing the man to hit his partner before being stabbed by her knife. The blood poured over them and the metallic smell of it covered her nostrils. They attackers both fell down in a heap. One unconscious, the other frantic pressing his hands to his wound, trying to stop the blodloss.

The forth man looked at her in shock, there she stood practically unharmed while his three comrades where lying at her feet.

"Come and get me"

Her voice was playful, not showing the massive chaos she felt inside. For a moment he looked dumbfound, before he took a more careful approach towards her. Clearly, this man understood her capabilities better than the other animals.

Slowly she started spinning the knifes, showing him just how capable she could be with them. The pain from her wrist hardly bothered her; it seemed as if adrenaline was the best painkiller. Careful not to lose eye contact, trying to appear as intimidating as possible, she circled him. His eyes were angry, but deep down, she could read the doubt in them. Her heart almost jumped as she saw that he was afraid of her.

Instead of waiting him out she took matters in her own hands. Leaping forward, gripping the knife, and aiming or the most vulnerary places. His hands were raised, trying to hold fold back his defense. Her first attempt of an attack were blocked by his arms, but the same minute her foot went up. A solid kick to his groin and he felt down. Moaning and clutching his groin, he lay beneath her feet. A moment she looked at her knife, before hitting him hard in the back head with the handle.

Looking down at the defeated men around her, she could not help herself feeling proud. In her state of mind, half drugged, starved and dehydrated she had managed to take out four trained men. Then reality came back to her. _Fuck!. _With the noise she had made there was bound to come others. Now she was already exhausted, how long would she last? Speaking of the devil, behind her she could hear the door opening, she twirled around and stood face to face with no other than;

"Caitlin, Caitlin, Caitlin… What have you done?"

His voice was mocking, and it sounded like he was only joking with her, but his eyes were cold. Slowly she placed herself in combat position once again. She would not surrender, not when she was this close. Gibbs was on his way, she couldn't let him take her down again.

"Get out of my way, bastard…"

Her voice was strong and cold, not allowing any emotions to show. He looked a bit taken off by her, but he was quick to conceal it.

"I am afraid I can't do that my dear. We have plans, remember? And where would I be without you? So just give me the knife and I promise I will not punish you for this little rebellion. "

"You wish, she spat at him. Fight me, if you have any courage at all. Stop letting other people fight for you, act like a man, not like the rat you are. You're pathetic. You are nothing more than dirt. In fact you are less than dirt. You are nothing!"

Her words did not seem to affect him there he stood. He looked just as relaxed as he did before, but she could sense his mood changing.

"As I have told you many times before, there is no need to use such foul language. And since you still wish to disobey I am afraid I have no other choice."

From his pocket, he revealed took out a black little box. She recognized it immediately, having one just the same in her drawer at work. Not that she had used it often, but she always carried it with her when she worked. It was a stunner. _Not fair. _She growled at him, so typical him to use something like that instead of meeting her a real fight.

"Too afraid to meet me in a real combat, bastard?"

"Quite the contrary my dear, I would just hate to see your pretty face bruised up even more. Now you can come with me voluntarily, or I will make you follow me"

" Bastard!"

"Very well Caitlin. Just know, this is going to hurt."

The same minute she tossed the knife towards him and leaped to her left, trying to avoid the stunner. She never managed to see if the knife it him as she was stricken by the lighting. Her entire body was painfully shaking before everything went black.

**Please review. Yes I know, I am an attention whore. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, the new chapter is a little late. Sorry I've been busy packing for the trip of a lifetime. But here it is, and this time, guess who has entered the story? **

**Special thanks to all of you who still follow my story, even though I am terrible to update. I am already on writing the next chapter, and with any luck, I will be finished with it before I travel. **

**PS: Beware of the spelling mistakes in this one, will try to make the next chapter better. **

"I am sorry. Are you special agent Gibbs?"

A clearly accented female voice woke him up. He had been so far away, thinking about Kate, Ari and how to find her, that he had blanked out. A pair of brown eyes looked questionably at him through a mass of bushy brown curls. A young woman he had never seen before in his life stood before him. She was very pretty and could easily have been a quite the beauty, but it seemed as if she had covered up her good looks. With a pair of baggy formless pants, a tank top, a large green military jacket and no make-up, she reminded him of a girl he knew a long time ago. Soldier first, person second and woman last. She only showed other people what she wanted to show them, not the person within. Tucked her heart and soul, deep within herself, so that no one could hurt her. Her face was serious, like she had seen too much, too young, and now was hardened by the burden.

"Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you ms...?"

"David. Ziva David. Mossad"

His eyebrows shot up suspiciously, as she mentioned Mossad, but he said nothing about it. Only tilted his head and looked more closely at the young woman. Unlike most others, she didn't squirmed under his glare, only held up her identification papers and stared back at him.

"You are a long way from home Ms. David. What can I do to help you?"

"You can stop your pursuing of Mossad operative Ari Haswari. I am here stop you of framing him for the kidnapping of your agent. Every minute that goes by, that you chase him, you risk his cover inside Al Qaida. I do not think I need to remind you that he is our_ only_ active agent there. Your witch-hunt has caused me a great deal of trouble and I am here to correct you. I am to work here with you to make sure you do not blow his cover. Just give me a desk and all your papers on him, and I will start going through them. I will also monitor your investigation in everything regarding Haswari."

Eyeing her closely, he examined her. She seemed very confident, and he had no doubt that she could be very dangerous if she wanted to. She was arrogant, rude and looked conceited. Her face was completely blank, making it hard to read any emotion from it, but he supposed that was the way she wanted it. Looking irritated up at her, she didn't even flinch.

"I have direct orders from your director that you are to give me a place to work, and free access to all of your materials."

Abruptly, he stood up and walked past _Ms. David_. With long steps, he marched up to MTAC. If someone were going to stop him from chasing Ari one more time, he would kill them with his bare hands. How could the director be so stupid for the second time? He was a political beast, he knew that, but he had always respected the man despite it. Stop the investigation for a kidnapper, because of politics? It was absurd, to say the least. He was practically fuming when he slumped down in the chair, beside the director.

"Calm yourself agent Gibbs."

"Do you truly expect me to listen to that...that...Mossad person? She comes and tells me that she would be monitoring us? What will she do, restrain us from following up leads, because it "may" blow the cover of a terrorist? You know as well as I that Ari being "good" is bullshit. And for all we know she could be feeding the information right back to him. And you allowed her to stick her nose up MY investigation?"

"I said calm yourself agent Gibbs. I do not care to repeat myself. I understand your situation, and I promise that agent Todd is our number one priority at the moment."

"You say that, but it sounds like nothing more than pretty words. What are your guaranty that she won't be running off in the sunset after given everything useful to Ari and risk MY agents life!"

"She won't."

Only her voice could stop him now. The person sitting in front of him, stood up, and turned around to face him. Red hair, the most beautiful green eyes who always could look right through him. Since the last times he had seen her, the wrinkle between her eyes had deepened and he could see other fine lines across her face. Instead of them making her look older and more damaged, they beautified her delicate face. Like a map from her life, showing every concern and tragedy, she had experienced, but also the happy times, fine lines around her mouth that came from laughing so hard that she cried. Contrary to popular belief, wrinkles did not make you look unattractive; they showed you that you had lived. Memories flooded back. _France. Paris_. It was like being stricken by the lightning. For a moment, he stood there, only having the sense of closing his mouth so he wouldn't be gaping at her, but nothing more. Then he pulled himself together.

"And how would you know that, _Jen_?"

"Ziva David is an excellent agent, and I have had the pleasure of working with her before. She is professional, does her job and is a superb asset. She will be able to do her job along side with you doing yours, without causing any harm."

He turned and faced the director again.

"And what about Ari? Am I to leave him alone, because agent Shepherd and her little friend say so?"

"You will have to ask your director that question, agent Gibbs. I got a job offer, deputy director for Homeland Security. Agent Shepherd is from now on the new director of NCIS."

"Wait? What?"

There were very few things in the world that could un-balance him, but now he felt like fate was pulling an evil prank at him. Confused he turned to see Jen again. Her face was blank for emotions, hands were crossed and in an instant, he could tell she was pissed off at him.

"No, you will not stop your investigations against Haswari, but you will use caution. You will not jeopardize his cover, but if he is guilty, then you have my permission to take him in."

"Well, I see that you have this under control Director. Gibbs, working with you has been an... experience, I wish you good luck. I truly hope that you find agent Todd, she was a great agent."

His use of past term did not go un-noticed by Gibbs, but he chose to ignore it. Turning back to Jen, he looked at her expectantly.

"Shall we drop the crap about not having changed anything at all?"

"Why start lying to each other now, Jen?"

"I hope this won't be a problem for you, working under me?"

"Not unless you make it a problem, director..."

"Good. You're dismissed."

Slower than usual, he went down to the bullpen. Hardly noticing the people who passed, he was consumed by his own thoughts. It was like someone had placed him in a alternative reality. Jen was his boss ,Kate , who he just discovered he loved, was taken by his nemesis. A strange Mossad girl had been assigned to his team, and would be going through everything. The next thing that happened, would probably be that DiNozzo came up to him and asked him abolish rule twelve, because he loved McGee and wanted to carry his children.

As he entered the corner, he could see that McGee and DiNozzo was back. McGee was sitting at his desk, looking like he wanted to be anywhere, but there, while DiNozzo was flirting with _Ms. David_. Slowly he approached them, waiting for the right moment to enter. Tony's load voice could be heard all over the room, three years together, and he still hadn't learned... By his tone of voice it was obvious that he was flirting with the her. It itched in his hand slap his head back into focus.

"Mm-hmm. We never let other people know what we're thinking"

He watched a seductive smile on her face as she approached him, and he almost missed what she was saying.

"Right now you're thinking on doing page fifty seven with me"

By the look of his younger agents face, it was time to interfere.

"Miss David, if you please. Special Agent McGee over here will prepare the useful information to you and then you can sit here. He dragged the chair to the desk beside McGee. And work quietly, do not disturb my team, if you need anything, ask me. Are we clear?"

"Like crystal"

"Good. Now the rest of you, you know what to do"

They both nodded and went back to their desks. Soon the clicking from the keyboard could once again be heard and the usual buzz from people around them followed. Taking up his notepad, getting ready to write down everything about the case so far, he was interrupted by the phone. The ID was hidden, which was strange. Questionably he opened the phone and said:

"Yeah. Gibbs."

Both McGee and DiNozzo watched him carefully, and he felt the blood disappear from his face. He looked like he had seen a ghost and only one word came out;

"Kate?

Then the world started spinning. Indicating with his fingers that McGee was to trace the call. Tony jumped up and down like a little child, unsure what to do with himself. He then ran behind McGee, hanging over his shoulder like a hawk.

"Where are you? Are you alright?... Yeah McGee's already on it!"

He barely noticed the young woman who followed his conversation; his only focus was on the voice from the phone. She sounded so fragile, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and never let her go. But she wasn't fragile, he thought. She had fought them; she had found a way out when her opportunity came, just like he had taught her. She was his girl.

"What's the problem Probie? Why are you taking so long to trace this? You used to do this in seconds only, come one, come on!"

"Tony! Stop stressing me will you! If you want me to find her, back off!"

An angry stare made them both shut up.

"Kate! Kate! Listen to me. You have to stay calm. I will find you. I promise I will find you and bring you home. Now is there any place you can hide? I need you to stay as safe as you can, until I come to get you."

"_Bassam wants me dead"_

The mention of the scumbag who once had dared to punch her, made his blood freeze to ice. He was going to kill him this time.

"Kate? Kate? Talk to me!"

"_I love you"_

"KATE! Don't hang up the phone, KATE!"

In the distant, he could hear her voice warning whoever had entered the room. The faint noises of a struggle could be heard, but the bullpen was way to load to hear anything.

"OY! Oy! Everyone! Just shut the hell up! Thank you."

He shot a grateful glance at DiNozzo who was now standing on his desk, waving his arms to make them be quiet. The entire room froze, all stood still, just watching him. Once again he turned his attention to the faint noises that where coming from the phone. _Kate_. It couldn't have passed more than a few minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. Clinging on to the phone, trying desperately to make sense of the noises, cheering her forward. _Come on Kate! _Then. There was nothing. Complete silence. The only noise in the entire room was the fanatic clicking from McGee's keyboard, which could barely be heard over the massive thunder his heart was making. Then he heard the one thing he hoped he would never hear. Her scream.

"KATE!"

He couldn't help himself. The moment he heard her scream, he screamed back to her. _Dear god, I can't lose her too!_.

"KATE! KATE! TALK TO ME GOD DAMIT!"

For ages, he clung on to the phone, holding it so hard his knuckles went white. Then he could hear the sound of someone picking up the phone.

"Kate!"

"Don't worry Gibbs; I assure you she is _enjoying _my company tremendously."

_Ari..._His blood froze to ice. _That fucking bastard_.

"I warn you. If you so much as touch her with your stinking hands, I will rip you apart."

The only response was a low chuckle, before the phone was turned off. Looking angry at it, wanting to crush something, he was interrupted by McGee's load scream.

"BOSS! I got her! It's a two hours drive, but you can probably get there faster if you avoid traffic."

"Stay here McGee! DiNozzo! Grab your gear!"

"On your six, boss!"

"I am coming as well!"

Ziva´s demanding voice was load and clear, and made them both turn and look at her.

"WHAT! Not gonna happen, you're staying behind ms. David. We do not need your expertise with us. "

"Look, you can either stay here arguing with me, loosing valuable time and risk your agent. Or you can save time, possible your agent and let me tag along. Your call."

She looked at him expectantly.

Never in his whole life had he driven so fast. His foot was planted on the gas pedal; if it could speak it would probably be squealing with pain. McGee was back in the bullpen giving directions, and DiNozzo was clinging to the car door. As soon as they were out of the city and other cars couldn't block their passage anymore, Gibbs stomped harder on the pedal. Trees flew by, like an ocean of green. It didn't take long until they were by the sea. It was a beautiful day, sun was shining and the weather was warm. But he barely noticed the blue sky, all he could think of was that would happen if he got there too late.

"How long until we get there McGee, he barked"

"Not too long now, by your speed you should reach it in 20 minutes."

"Kate don't have 20 minutes! Shortcut?"

"You are driving the fastest route now"

"Not fast enough!"

"Perhaps I should drive Gibbs?"

Ziva's commanding voice from the backseat almost made him jump.

He chose to ignore her, but like before, she interpreted his silence as permission to speak.

"I can get there faster than you, I drive very fast. Then you can get time to calm down, so you do not march off and kill my man, if he even is there. "

By her words, Gibbs stomped harder on the pedal and they flew forward. Ignoring her completely, he focused entirely at the driving.

"How far away now McGee?"

"7 minutes now boss!"

A large, grey concrete building came into view. Seagulls were screaming around them, just like Kate had said, and it smelled heavily of ocean. With their Sig Sauer's raised, the three of them formatted and made their way toward the building. The noise from an open door, slamming in the wind, could be heard, but apart from that, there were no unnatural noises.

"DiNozzo, David, cover me."

A nod indicated that they had understood, and they went in.

The whole building was deserted. It didn't take long until they found out that what looked like a large building with many floors, was more an illusion. It was an extremely large storage facility, and they entered one large room, which seemed to be the entire building. It was completely empty, with nothing more than salty smell of the ocean.

"Gibbs. Over here"

Ziva's voice came from the other corner and as he approached her, the faint contours of a door could be seen. Obviously constructed so that it would not be easily discovered, built for a quick hide-away.

Quietly he opened the door and was greeted by a strong light. They came out to a large staircase, looking down it was around three floors down. With quiet moves, he indicated that they were to follow his lead and silently they snuck down.

The further down they went, the more quiet it got. Isolated by the thick walls, and the fact that they were underground, made it feel like entering a large bubble. The first door revealed a hallway, packed with doors on each side. _Just as she said_. One after one they opened the doors, just to see small rooms that had been left in a hurry. Most of them were empty, as if they had never been used, but others you could easily see that people had lived in. In the very few rooms that had beds in them, the sheets were tucked up, military style, except two that still were rumpled. One room turned out to be a food facility, packed with tinned food etc. Others had a couple of chairs and a table. The only thing the rooms had in common was the lack of people.

The next floor looked just the same. A long hallway packed with doors, only visible difference was the bad light. Here it was flickering, making it harder to see anything proper.

"Tony, you check out downstairs. Any sound at all, or suspicious noises and you report to me, are we clear? Ms David, you are with me."

The first door they opened was bull's-eye. On the floor, dirty and rumpled together lay a pink sweater. _Kate._ After clearing the room, he gently swept it up in his arms, holding it carefully and examining it.

"This belong to agent Todd", he said out load.

"Are you sure?"

A meaningful glance made her shut up, and after putting the sweater down, they continued down the hall. The other rooms seemed as empty as the ones up-stairs, some showed signs off being used, but most of them were empty, with a thick dust layer on the ground.

"Gibbs"

He turned around and saw Ziva standing in a doorway, holding her gun raised.

"Come and have a look"

Raising his own gun, he silently walked over to her and looked inside. The room was a mess. There was blood on the floor, ceiling, walls, everything. There were bloody shoeprints and there clearly indication that something, or someone, had been dragged upon a sheet and carried away. In the corner was a knife, bloody and gory. Carefully, so not disturb the crime scene he closed the door.

"We'll have the crime techs check it out. Come on, let's check out how DiNozzo is doing"

Just as they entered the staircase again, Tony came sprinting up.

"Status DiNozzo?"

"Basement, dungeon hole thingy. It seems as all have been left in a hurry. Just a whole bunch of interrogation rooms downstairs. On, or two empty rooms, one had some ropes lying around, but nothing more. There was one bedroom though, with ropes tied to each bed pole. It was also a toilet inside, looked like a cell to me. I think that's where they kept her. But here is no sign of her. However there is one door that is locked. I don't expect any of you know how to pick a lock?."

"Just show me the door"

Together they went down in the basement, Tony leading the way, while Ziva was examining her key-change. By the look of it she was fully prepared for most situations and the key-pick equipment she carried with her was first class.

"This is it, the only door I couldn't open."

"Okay, just stand back and I take it."

In a matter of seconds, she had picked the lock, and silently opened the door. With their guns raised, the three of them stared into a completely dark room. The silent noise of someone sleeping could be heard and his heart flickered. _Kate?_

"Flashlight"

Tony grabbed his flashlight and lit the room. In the far corner the contours of a small bed could be seen. A very small person lay on the bed, lying completely still and barely breathing.

"Grace?"

***Please note that I tried writing Ziva's speech with errors on purpose. Don't go yelling at me because of the mistakes. **

**And I just want to know. Do you want shorter chapters? Or is it okay with this length? A little bird asked me write more often, but with shorter chapters. Yey or Ney?**


	10. Chapter 10

**I can't promise a quick update since I am leaving on Monday. Busy, busy, busy with settling in and then school starts. But, I will try to update at least every 2 week.**

**I would like to thank ****AiyanaStone who beta'd this chapter! She's been great!**

She woke up with her entire body in pain. Everything hurt, and she felt dizzy and disoriented. It was like someone had set fire to every bone in her body. Groaning in pain, she felt a cool hand stroke softly over her hair, patting her head tenderly. It felt good, she managed to think, someone was taking care of her. Whatever that person said, it made her feel relaxed and safe. It was soothing and she snuggled toward the warmth. She moaned in pain as the fingers suddenly dug into her arm, making her open her eyes.

"Good afternoon Caitlin."

Looking into the dark eyes of Ari, she panicked. He was sitting way to close and the way he had caressed her body, made her want to hurl. She felt sluggish and queasy and each movement shot splints of pain through her body. The shock of having him so close, and her so helpless, made pure terror shoot through her body. Shaking and screaming to get away, he only held her tighter, before putting his hand over her mouth.

"You have caused quite the mess little one, and there are a great deal of people who are angry with you. You killed a man. Remember that? And the way you treated me and some of the others have made a lot of people talk about payback. Especially that young boy you took down. I wonder, what did you say to him? I have never seen so much hate in his eyes before. So be quiet, you don't want the others to come in now."

The memories flooded back to her. _Gibbs!_ Struggling to be free of him, she got a look of her surroundings. _Wood walls? Where the hell had he taken her now?_ Realising he had found the phone and figured out what she had done, he had decided to move them. It was a very small room, smaller then her previous one. There were no windows, nor could she hear any noises from the outside. _Great... Another hermetically sealed room._

"However, I must admit, I forgot how feisty you can be."

Barely managing to choke down a snort, she kept her focus on the floor. Trailing the wood pattern on the floor, and ignoring his voice.

"Look at me"

Refusing to obey his commands, she continued to stare stubbornly down. The floor looked old and rustic. A thin layer of dust covered it, like a blanket of grey. She heard him sigh, before he gently forced her chin up. His hands felt rough and coarse on her tender skin. Angry she glared up at him. _If only looks could kill..._

Looking back down at her, he wrinkled his nose. Then, with a firm grip around her arm, he dragged her up from the bed. Too confused to do much, she stumbled after him, struggling to keep her balance. Each step sent more pain shooting through her body. Dragging her to a closed door, he opened it and roughly shoved her in.

"You are in need of a shower. You will then dress in the clothing provided for you, before you dine with me. When you are finished and properly dressed, you will knock on the door and Tariq will escort you to me. You will under no circumstances make any trouble or contradict my orders. I will not be able to guarantee for your safety if you do. And believe me Caitlin, there are enough people here who wish to harm you. "

She heard the lock turn and was left alone in the large bathroom. It wasn't the grandest she had seen, but compared to the place she had been, it could very well be the Hilton. Still in a daze from Ari's unexpected behaviour it took her a moment to compose herself. The room was completely sealed, with nowhere to go except the door, which was now locked. By the look of it this was a room used more often that the room she had woken up in. Wet footprints covered the floor leaving a trail from a large pile of towels to the shower.

With trembling steps she walked toward the sink and turned the tap on. Howling down cold water for the first time in a while, she had to rip herself away from it so that she wouldn't overdue it. Hearing Ducky's warning voice in her head about drinking too much, too fast, on a shrunken stomach was the only thing that stopped her. As she stood there, panting after drinking too fast she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The view was a shock. Though she had always been pale and slender, she now resembled a living corpse. The few kilos she had lost were too much for her and if it hadn't been for the large t-shirt, her ribs would probably be poking out. Her skin was white, only covered in blue blossoms from her failed escape. Her clothes and hair was drenched in blood and dirt, making her look like something out of a horror movie. Her eyes were large and blank, and somehow they too seemed darker. In some ways, she almost seemed transparent...

Abruptly she turned around. She did not want to see the creature Ari reduced her too. Looking so weak, almost fragile... She would be damned if that was what she allowed him to do to her. She was not weak, had she not fought of six men all on her own? If Ari hadn't cheated and used a stun gun she would have taken him too.

Watching the shower, weighing the pro's and con's about entering it. Tormented between the need to be clean again, and the fear of being interrupted. Then of course, there was the problem about what would happen later. If she smelled and looked like this, there was a bigger possibility that nobody would... She didn't want to think about it. And still, if anyone wanted to...Well they would probably have made a move by now. Bassam would do it anyway if he ever got the chance, but hopefully she had hurt him bad enough he would never be able to do anything like that ever again.

Carefully she turned the shower on. With the water running, she turned around and watched the door. After standing there for some time, she was almost certain that nobody would come in. And if so, why would Ari go outside and lock the door? If he truly wanted to hurt her, he could easily have subdued her by now...

Making her decision, she stripped off the dirty clothes, relief overcoming her as they were peeled away. Covered in blood and gore, they were disgusting. Grabbing a towel, she carefully stepped inside the shower. Still keeping an eye on the door, she carefully stepped inside, only to be rewarded with ice-cold water. Gasping from the shock, she quickly turned the tap so that hot water could flow. Soon large layers of hot steam filled the room. When she was finally content with the temperature, she stepped in once again. The warm water ran over her stiff muscles, slowly removing dirt and grime. Every bone in her body hurt and the hot water felt like a massage. Carefully she soaped her body in and watched as the blood circled down the drain. The wound in her hand had opened again and the soap stung, but the feeling of becoming clean, easily overpowered it. Lifting her face so that the soft spray of water could flow over her face felt like heaven. Carefully she examined the wound the stunner had made. He had hit her witth it right aboce her chest, leaving a burnmark. It didn't hurt as much as she believed it would, but it still itched.

Looking anxiously at door, she then turned her attention at the shampoo. Taking a solid amount of it and dragging her fingers through her hair, removing every knot and tangle. It smelled divine and she almost forgot where she was, when a loud knock interrupted her.

"5 minutes"

Tariq's mellow voice could be heard through the door. For a minute, she had let herself relax, enjoyed the warm water and forgotten about the dangers that lured. The whole situation just felt so surreal. She wondered what game Ari was playing this time. Allowing her to take a shower? Behaving, at least to an extent, polite? It was just all so strange. She didn't want to leave the comfort of the shower and face him.

Turning the water of and tucking herself into the towel, she went toward the clothes he had laid out. Clearly not women clothes, but by the look of it she would fit them. A large pair of sweatpants and a matching sweater was neatly folded by the sink. She wondered whom they belonged to, perhaps Ari? Somehow she doubted that, they seemed to _cheap_ for him. Well, at least they were clean.

There was no underwear put out, and there was no way she asked..._him_ for a new pair. Ugh! She really didn't want to put on a pair of old panties. The bra was okay, but...Another hard knock on the door made her decision. Dragging the clothes on, she yelled that she was finished.

A twist from the lock could be heard and the door opened. In the hallway she could discern the large figure of Tariq. Cautiously she stepped outside and gasped. The floor was freezing under her bare feet. With a nod with his head she understood that she was going to walk in the front. His heavy hands directed her through the hallway and back the same door where Ari had dragged her from. Expecting another brutal shoving, she was surprised when he just opened the door for her.

The room was empty, with bare walls and nothing more than the bed she had laid in. The warm sheets looked warm and inviting, but she stayed on her feet. When Ari came in, she would be prepared for it. Just as she thought of him, the door opened and he strode in. Under his arm was a large box, which she recognized to be a first aid kit.

"Sit"

He nodded toward the bed.

"Give me your wounded hand."

Just looking at him, she stretched forward both hands. When he saw that her wound had once again opened, he looked disapprovingly at it. Frowning he examined it, before gently bandaging it. Then he turned his attention toward her broken wrist. After squeezing it softly, he wrapped it tight together.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No"

"Are you sure? I believe that stunner must have hurt you a bit..."

"I'll manage."

"Ahh, but what kind of person would I be, if I let your wounds unattended? I insist."

Without asking he started removing her sweater. As if he had anticipated it, he caught her arm millimetres from his face.

"No Caitlin." His voice had turned dangerously low. "I will tend to your wound, and you will stop acting like a child. Are we clear? Good..."

Gently, he then dragged the sweater over her head, leaving her feel utterly exposed. She shivered as he anointed the cold cream upon her wound. With careful movements, he rubbed it in, smirking slightly at her discomfort.

"You know, he said grinning. It's not as I have not seen that before..."

Her eyes sent daggers at him, but he pretended he didn't see the anger in them. From his pocket, he drew forward the pair of handcuffs before securing her hands with them. Still hurt and tired from her almost escape, she decided to keep cool. Just wait him out like before. Wherever "this" was, it seemed much less secure than the concrete cell she had been in. In time, she would find her moment again, and then she would break free. For now, she just needed to stay calm.

"You will eat something. I had one of my men bring some food."

He pointed to the night table where a small tray of food was standing. It was nothing special, just a couple of sandwiches, but by look of them, she could feel her stomach growl. With a nod with his head that she were to eat. At first, she only looked suspiciously at it, wondering what he was up to this time.

"It was not a request Caitlin. You are in need of something to eat."

Carefully she took a small bite. The minute the food touched her tongue she could feel how hungry she truly was. It only took a couple of minutes before she had consumed the whole meal by herself. Having eaten very little the last few days, the sudden overflow of food made her a bit queasy. The silence dragged out, forever it seemed, until he finally made a movement. Taking the empty plate, placing it by the door, before turning around and facing her again.

"You have proved to be quite the challenge, Caitlin. More than what I first anticipated. Your little act of rebellion has caused turmoil among my men. I thought I made it very clear earlier what would happen if you broke my rules again?."

"You never made it a rule, not try to escape. That was never specified."

Surprised by her own outburst she could do nothing but to look at him and watch his reaction. Surprisingly enough, he did not seem too cross. By the look of it, he was faintly amused.

"You're quite right it seems. I have not made it clear enough for you? Perhaps I should write them down. Like Gibbs? Hmm? Then you can memorize them and we won't have trouble like this again. Would you follow my rules then?"

"No. I will not"

"No?"

"You heard me. I will not agree to your rules. I will escape you, and I will kill you. I will make everyone of you pay for what you have done to Grace and me. However, if you let Grace go without harm, I will allow you to live the rest of your life in jail. Let me go as well, and I will make sure its minimum security."

Her voice was surprisingly cold and strong, though her inside was chaos. She didn't know where she got the courage from. Her whole inside was screaming, while her demeanour was calm and focused.

"Ahh, but I have no intention of spending the rest of my life in jail."

"Well, it _seems_ that we are not going to agree then. I will continue to fight you with every bone in my body, I will not give up and I will never obey your rules. "

He was just as relaxed as ever, like she had just commented on the weather or the shape of a cloud. Like he had no care in the world he stood up as to stretch his legs. Then turning toward her again with a slight smile around his mouth.

"It's a shame you feel that way. If you only were to co-operate I could see to that some of your commands were met. But you are tired now, you've had quite the day today and you need your rest. I am sure you see upon this entirely different after a good night sleep. I will come for you tomorrow and then we will continue."

Though her inside was fuming with anger and she struggled to keep her anger down, her demeanour matched his cold. Even when he indicated that she was to lie down again and shackled her to the bed, she kept cool.

"As I told you before. Women should never get involved; it's a waste of beauty..."

His fingers left a trail of goose bumps as he gently caressed her arm before turning around. He strode out of the room, and with him went the light. Only when he had left the room she allowed herself to breathe again.

Lying still in the darkness, she felt confused. All his different ways to act made it difficult to read him, to profile him. From the moment she met him he had confused her. Going from casually flirting, to shooting Gerald, without a drop of sweat. And now? Acting like a cold bastard, commanding her around, yet still he had given her a shower and food. The he had patched her up, tended her wounds, again, even after she had killed his man? She just couldn't get a hold on that man. Angry she stared up in the ceiling; if there was one thing she hated it was missing a piece to the puzzle, and right now..., that was exactly what she was missing...

**Please review. Good or bad, as long as its constructive critique I will appreciate it;) **


	11. Chapter 11

**So. Finally a new chapter. Sorry that I take so much time, but my life is quite busy. New land, new language, so much to do, and just so little time. **

**But, thank to my beta AiyanaStone you have the new chapter now! **

After calling an ambulance to take care of Grace, Gibbs ordered the building to be closed and secured. Then, a handpicked team went over every inch of the building, collecting every shred of evidence that could be found. A manhunt had been organized to search the surroundings after further clues and to look after a possible body, but so far, nothing had turned up.

Ducky and Palmer arrived only a few minutes after the other crime-techs, much thanks to McGee who had guided them over the phone. Palmer was put to get a sample of every blood pool, so Abby could identify how many different people the blood belonged to. Ducky, for once, was left speechless. After seeing the gory room, he had requested to wait outside while Palmer finished up. Gibbs had followed him, and they sat together out in the sun, neither speaking.

Though the sun was shining, he was cold to the bone. As if the warm and gentle light was only an illusion and did not really exist. In silence, they sat together, watching people walk in and out of the building, carrying evidence. The screams from the seagulls were loud and piercing, yet they did not annoy him. In some way, they soothed his anger, made him more focused. After a time of silence, the old doctor finally spoke again.

"Judging by the large amount of blood, I would most definitely say that the person who suffered those wounds is now dead."

"It's not Kate."

"Jethro... I think we need to face the possibly that Caitlin…..might be..."

"Nah Duck, she´s still alive."

"Jethro, we need to face the possibility..."

"No, I told you Duck, she's still alive. She is out there somewhere, with him guarding her like a hawk. I am not saying this because that's what I need to believe. I am saying it because that would be the only thing that is making sense. Ari would not kill her yet, he _needs_ her alive if his goal is to torture me. And even if that's wrong and we're all mistaken about that fact, it still does not make sense. Why go through all that trouble just to torture me? Why would he have organized something like this,...just to torture me? There is something behind all this, I just can't see what it is. But I DO know that Kate is still out there.. Killing her now would not make any sense. Not any goddam sense!"

Not for the first time in her young life, Ziva was confused, but this time it was different. Never before had she doubted a loved one like this. She had tried to act normal, but Ari could always read her like an open book. After a while he had figured out her distress was caused by her lack of trust in him, and he had been furious. Raging over the fact that she, the last person in the world he truly cared about would believe that he would do such a horrid act. Sure, he killed, extracted information in some…unpleasant ways, but everything he did served a purpose. Kidnapping the same agent, whom he previously had interfered with, whom he had a history with, was downright suicide! Why would he risk a situation like that just to set that other old agent up? It wasn't logical, it did not serve any cause and it could blow his cover.

She had witnessed him rage, seen him calm down, and watched him plead his innocence. All of his arguments were rational. She could see no flaw in them. She had promised him to keep still and watch over the investigation for him. If she found anything that pointed toward who might try to frame him she promised to let him know immediately. However, a small sprout of doubt was planted in her heart. Over time, she had seen his eyes grow colder, the indifference he showed their father had worried her, but he refused to explain. She was not, however, the one who left things alone. She was patient, in time she would get to the bottom of it, of that she were sure.

When they had arrived back at NCIS, she kept her face emotionless and cold as she followed Gibbs. He had ordered her to stay in his sight at all times, not even bothering to explain why, as they both knew the reason. He did not trust her...

Following him across the street to get something called a Caf-Pow, before entering that strange girl's lab, she paid as close attention to him as he did to her. However, when Abby started talking, she stood standing in awe. She had, of course, read all about that strange creature. From her unusual style of clothing, to the brilliance of her mind, but to actually witness it was something quite different. With pigtails and unseemly short skirts, she resembled a young teen, not an unusual intelligent scientist. Yet every word that came out of her mouth begged to challenge her appearance.

"I have analysed every blood sample you gave me, not easy I might add. The dirt in the room was unbelievable, it almost contaminated the DNA-samples. I mean, people don't know how hard it can be to find a good DNA sample from a blood sample in a dirty room. All that dust has just... To separate the white blood cells from the blood and then separate the different samples is not an easy job. Not that I'm complaining, I am doing this for Kate and will stay up all night for her. But Gibbs, you should know by now that I cannot perform miracles unless you give me time. I've confirmed the blood from four different people, but so far I haven't figured them all out yet. Two of them popped up in CODIS, Haa'roon Ahmad and Jibrīl Al-Fulan. Both listed as known terrorists, and both reported to be in Gitmo. Both reported to have died in April...

"What?"

"I tried to get access to the files, but I don't have high enough clearance. Neither has anyone else on the team. I checked."

The fact that the strange girl could access such information about her teammates surprised Ziva, but years of practise hid it with little problems. Her face was, as always, a blank mask in total control.

"What ´bout the other ones?"

"No match on them either. I have a friend in London, who is currently running them through NDNAD. Since Ari was connected to England I thought...Well I thought it was worth a shot…."

She paled and grabbed the desk. In a swift move Gibbs was there to rescue her, and he put her gently down. Tenderly, he helped her put her head between her knees, until the colour came back to her cheeks. Patting her back carefully before gently asking;

"How long has it been since you ate something Abs?"

The long line of empty Caf-Pows spoke for itself., and she looked guilty down.

"I just want to help Kate..."

"Abs... You need to eat if you want to help her.. You know that right? No one can go on forever, not even you.."

He kissed her gently before standing up.

"I'll go fix you something to eat. DiNozzo is sure to have some in his desk. I'll be right back. You!" He pointed to Ziva. "You'll look after her. Make sure she don't move or do anything that makes her feel queasy. "

And with that he left the room with long, firm strides . They heard the elevator pling and then they were alone…. It was an awkward silence, with neither knowing what to do.

They stood there judging each other. Ziva knew she shouldn't do it, but she had to be sure... How often hadn't her father told her she could trust no one, you had to verify. But this was so much more; if she did it she would compromise herself. She could be taken off the case if they knew...

"Can you match a DNA sample from a relative to Ari? I mean, can you find out that he has been at the place if you by example have some DNA from his father or brother?"

She looked surprised by the question, puzzled to say the least, but still she was polite enough to give an honest answer back.

"Sure, I mean. I can place the DNA and tell that a relative has been on the scene, with the blood I can identify if it's a girl or a boy, but I won´t be able to tell you much more than that. I still need to confirm the DNA with the real person to be exact, but I can tell you that his son has been there. Or daughter, brother, well you know. Why?"

_Here goes nothing _Ziva thought.

"Say that you test my blood against his. Can you match it against that?"

"You´re his….?"

"Half-sister.. We share the same father"

"What! You're that scumbags sister! And you didn't care to mention that little detail. I'm sure Gibbs would love to know more about that!"

The young woman stood abruptly up again, and instantly went green. Instinctually, Ziva grabbed her arm and put her gently down again.

"I am sorry that I did not mention it before. Who I am, I mean….."

For the first time in her life, Ziva found herself in lack of words. She felt torn between the feeling of betraying her brother and just knowing.. She had to know, and if he was telling the truth, what harm could it do? Because he was telling the truth..? The anger still shining from the young forensic eyes could not be mistaken.

Usually, when put in a situation like this she would respond back with anger, but something in her eyes told her that that would not be a smart strategy. If she wanted to help Ari, and help that woman, she would have to come clean. Not play her cards too tight. Be honest…?

"Can't you just take a sample Abby? You have my permission to tell Gibbs, but please wait until after you get the results? I do not believe that my Ari has taken your agent, but I am willing to go this far to prove it. If you tell Gibbs now who I really am, I will be taken off the case. And then what? Ari is my only brother, the only one I have left in this world. If he is innocent he could get killed! I promise that if you find proof of him, I'll come clean. I'll do everything in my power to help you, just don't tell about him just yet. If he is the one, I´ll do everything I can to take him down. All I ask for is the time it takes you to prove if he is guilty or not. Is that really to much?"

She hadn't meant to be so openhearted, but something in Abby's direct glance, just drew forward the truth. As she spoke she could see her eyes soften, but her voice was still angry.

"I will only do this to prove that he did it. I'm sorry Ziva, but I know what a bastard your brother is. He is not a kind man, he shot a dear friend of mine and he fired against Gibbs. He has held Kate hostage TWICE, but still I will do what you ask. Not because I think there is even a slight chance that he is innocent, but because you came clean. Do not mistake this for anything else, I do not like you, nor will I ever. Still it took a lot of guts to come clean..And I like guts. So I will keep your secret. But I warn you, if you try to do anything, anything at all I will find you. Do not ever forget! I am one of the few people in the world. Who can kill you AND leave no forensic evidence... Remember that _David_... "

**For those of you who have asked about more Kate, and less team Gibbs I have a happy message to you. I´ll probably write more about her now in the future. It seems as if that is the only thing that still keeps me hooked to this story and not moving on to a new one. Therefore I will focus more about her and only write small parts about the investigation so you can see where this is going. :)**

**Sampai jumpa nanti!**


	12. A little chat

**Once again thank you to my lovely beta ****AiyanaStone** ! And thank you to all of you who are still following this story! 

Kate was lying in bed staring up in the ceiling. How incredible boring it could be, not being able to move... She absolutely hated it... She had never liked it, she liked to have something to do. To at least be able to do something. Lying in bed all day long had never been her thing. Sure she could sleep long, a half day even after a tough case, but the minute she woke up, she also liked to stand up. Do something, draw something, just move! It was killing her, not being able to mov e!

After tossing and turning for hours she had finally managed to get some sleep. For an hour, she had entertained herself by repeating all of Gibbs' rules, then continued to counting all the cracks in the ceiling and finally just closed her eyes, trying to gain as much strength as possibl e. Trying to figure out what Ari´s plan was was also driving her crazy. _He_ was driving her crazy. And then there was the strange thing about him, that made her fear him less than the others. She couldnt define it, wasnt sure she wanted too. He was comforting, and scaring the crap out of her at the same time.

A small noise outside her room ripped her out of her thoughts. The panels outside the door creaked silently, as though someone was standing outside, waiting….. Her throat felt dry. The kind of thirst that couldn't be quenched with any amount water. The thirst, the quickened pulse, sweating ands, it was all the same reflex, the body preparing itself for imminent threat. Slowly the door opened and Ari casually strolled in. As usual, he was ignoring her poisonous glare, and only returned her look with a smirk.

"Ah, I see you are awake. I trust you slept well?"

It seemed he had anticipated that he wouldn't get an answer cause the smirk only grew. Like he had no worry in the world he sat down beside her. Gently he tucked some loose hair behind her ear before speaking again.

"I do believe we talked about this Caitlin….When will you start acting like a civilized person?"

_Don't let him get under your skin Kate! Don't let him aggravate you_! Stubbornly she stared in the ceiling, ignoring him completely.

"Ahh don't be like that…. I'm hurt"

Still ignoring him, she could not hold back a little "huff". He would get hurt…., in the end she was sure to make him pay….

"Very well pet. You should know by now it does very little for you if you are stubborn, but I am feeling... generous…..today. I will give you one last choice. Either you stop your little act of rebellion; give me an answer when I ask for it, or I will go and fetch Bassam? He has been asking a lot after you since your little incident in your cell….. You can make the decision…"

Reluctantly she turned her gaze to him and met his eyes. A brink of satisfaction reached them, before he mockingly petted her head.

"Ah I knew you could be a good girl in the end... You are so much more fun when you are obedient. "

Gritting her teeth's tight together, so she wouldn't spit out the most horrendous words she knew about, she held his gaze.

"And I see we are learning to control out temper as well. Indeed very good…" 

Still only holding his gaze, she was proud she managed to keep cool. It was the fear that kept her calm, being alone in a room with Bassam was more than she could take. Then she would rather keep up with Ari´s snide comments and…_Gibbs would come for her_

"But where are my manners? I see that you must be very uncomfortable, yes? Would you like to get out of those cuffs?"

Wondering what game he was playing at she nodded slowly.

"You must really learn to articulate yourself Caitlin. You will never come anywhere in this world if you can´t use your words."

"Yes, I would like to get out of these cuffs."

"Yes?"

"Yes_, please….."_

She managed to spit out with as much disgust as possible. He sighed, but did not make a number out of her reluctant tone of voice. Instead he drew forward a key from his pocket and quickly undid her cuffs. In a second she had hoisted herself up in a sitting position and started rubbing her sore wrists. The whole time keeping an careful eye on him, ready to defeat herself at any chance.

"Now, now Caitlin. No reason for you to look like a startled animal. As I have told you many times before I shall not lay a hand on you, unless you deserve it… Now are you hungry?"

"Not really."

That exact moment her stomach decided to let out a hungry growl. His gave knowing smirk and tilted his head.

"Why do you always insist on this? Why not be honest with me just once without me dragging it out of you?"

He snapped his fingers and a man she had never seen before came in with a tray of food. The warm smell of scrambled eggs made her stomach growl again. The golden butter on the toast had already begun to melt; it was soaking into the crusty bread and made her mouth flow with water. But neither the fresh made eggs, nor the mouth-watering smelling toast could take her attention off the most tempting thing. There, in the corner of the tray was a small cup filled with the world's most delicious mixture. _Coffee….._

"Now are you sure you don't want a little taste of this? All you have to do is ask nicely…."

She looked suspiciously down at the tray. What was the point of all this? Why was he suddenly acting so nice? Well, at least nice for Ari to be…What the hell was he playing at? As if he had read her mind he answered quickly.

"You hurt me Caitlin. Do you really think I would put poison in your food? I am not that kind of man."

At that, she made a big snort before she could stop herself, but it didn't look like he took it the wrong way. A crooked smile lit up his face.

"You should know me well enough to know that I don't operate like that. If I wanted you dead, I would simply put a bullet in your head. And if I where to slip you something why do it this way? Haven't I proved to you already that I don't need to do that? There is nothing I can give to you through this food that I can't give to you through a syringe. So stop this nonsense. Eat! Drink! Then we shall talk"

To prove his point, he picked up the toast and took a bite out of the corner of it, slowly chewing it in front of her in a taunting manner. If her mouth had been watering, it was now flowing. Still she did not want to give him the pleasure of being right, even if that was just making her eat the food he provided. Stubborn she had been since she was a child, sometimes to end of stupidity, but she enjoyed the satisfaction of defiance a little too much. As if he sensed he wouldn't persuade her by teasing he leaned in closely. Holding her ground she did not break his eye contact, not even when he leaned over and was only inches away from her face. His warm breath caressed her face, and in a strange unexpected way it did not feel as threatening as it was supposed to feel. More like an adrenaline rush going down a dangerous path.

"Are you still sure you're not_ hungry_ for anything I can offer…..?

Breathing heavily, she looked deep into his eyes. Somehow daylight made them seem more kind, the soft light that reminded her of their first meeting, when she thought he had something kind in them. Before he had shot that woman's brain out without even blinking….Before he transformed and grown colder…. _Only inches away_…. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweating. So close…. She felt vulnerable, exposed…. His eyes were piercing right through her, like he could see the turmoil inside.

Somehow, she didn't know how, but somewhere inside her an enormous rage grew forward. _How dare he time after time make her feel like this! _He must have sensed the change in her, because he drew back, but not quick enough. Her clenched fist hit him hard in the face, blood spouting everywhere. She could feel the bone break and the nauseating sound from the break was, for a moment the only sound in the room. Then, faster than she would ever imagined her arms were pulled back and then her entire body was twisted. Her body was pressed hard against the madras and Ari's surprisingly heavy body was pinning her down. Warm drops of blood dripped down on her, but he seemed unfazed by the pain. Instead he had murder in his eyes, his whole demeanour cold yet again.

"That was extremely stupid move of you Caitlin. Are you ever going to learn how to behave?"

His voice was cold like ice, like a whisper, and yet the only thing she could hear. Still shaking of anger she refused answering him. The familiar metallic stench of blood filled her nostrils. Struggling to be free, shifting violently, she had to give up. No matter how good she was in fighting she could not ignore the fact that she was smaller than him and did not have the muscles to out win this situation.

"When will you realise that you are not strong enough to fight me? That it will only bring you pain and suffering?"

"All you have ever brought me is pain and suffering! And you blame me for fighting you back! I have already told you I would fight you! That I would not back down. You know all this! Still you come in to me and act like this is some fucking social call! Teasing me! Why go on with it already, I already know who you are. A lying, sadistic, manipulative bastard! Why I didn't kill you the first time is way beyond my imagination, but believe me if I got the chance I would not back down now. You deserve to bleed out on the floor like a simple dog! Fuck you Ari! Fuck you!"

"I could be all these things if I wanted to Caitlin"

He almost purred., seemingly unfazed by her anger

"However to what you may believe I do not enjoy hurting people, pain, I only use whenever it is necessary. I do believe I have already told you this? But if pain is what you want I could of course turn you over to Bassam. He would enjoy it immensely, I know. But perhaps not? He can be very…messy, if he is the one to interrogate. He does not have the patience like the others. And let us not forget how he has been asking about getting time with you, ever since you came to join us. I fear, the only way he can redeem himself, as he sees it, is to break you.

But perhaps that would be more merciful? After all he is rash, you will probably be dead in a couple of hours. The others are more…..methodical…? Take their time, draw it out. You have a choice Caitlin. Either stop this fight that we both know you will lose, or you will use your brain. You can die a painful death, with no other witnesses than the walls of this room and your killer. Of course the faithful Gibbs and his team will mourn their loss, but sooner or later they will move on. Your _heroic _death will be nothing more than a common causality. Another agent will be assigned your place on the team, most likely a woman, a redhead perhaps?"

She couldn't hold back a shudder. Violently she tried to shake him of her, but he held her down with little problems. His heavy body pinned down her fragile frame. Gritting her teeth, her breath was coming out in short frantic puffs.

"In time they will scarcely remember you. Occasional when they walk past your desk, now occupied by someone else, they will think of you. But they will not remember you the way you truly are, because you have never allowed them to see it or they were to blind. They never saw the greatness in you. Take DiNozzo for example, he never saw past your surface. He saw an average looking, prudish, co-worker whom he could tease whenever he got bored.

Timothy McGee? Respected you more than DiNozzo, but he neither saw the real you. A woman with a gun, who had worked at NCIS for a year longer than him and therefore was worthy some respect. You never became friends, so after a while he will welcome a newcomer to the team. He will never admit it of course, but I am sure you know as well as I that he will enjoy the power that comes with training a new to the team.

And then there is Gibbs…..Good old Gibbs. Do you think he has ever given you the respect you deserve? That he managed to see past your failures. Like the time on air force one, true you had not yet started working for him, but we both know about his rules. Fucking your co-worker. How incredibly human of you. That would be breaking rule 11, wouldn't it?"

"12" She whispered. Her voice almost to quiet to be heard.

"Yes 12 it was…. Do you think he sees you the same way he sees the others? Give you the same respect? And later, working for him, you have done other things too, yes? You have made mistakes which has cost people their lives? Lives lost because you failed to see the bigger picture."

Images floated by in her head. Being doubted to go onboard the submarine. And then Gibbs fought her battle, like he didn't believe she would be able to argue with the man without making a fool of herself. The stinging in her heart, that followed by being doubted, only because of her gender…

The letting her emotions getting in way in the Suzanne case. A man had died because of her... She had looked him in the eyes when Suzanne dropped the bomb, seen light go out of his eye because he knew his time was up.

Then shooting that young boy. _Suicide by cop_. Worst three words in the world. The accusations in Gibbs eyes had been clear, no matter what he said. Once she had screwed up a case. Once again her mistakes had cost someone their life.

And at last…Grace… How he openly had confessed, doubted her ability to remain professional, how he had judged her to in front of everyone.

The voice inside her that kept yelling that Ari was only trying to get inside her head was still there, but the doubt had been planted. Perhaps…? No, it was all nonsense, Ari was only messing with her. Still, her failures was real, she knew that, he knew that, _Gibbs _knew that….Of course she was only human, everybody did mistakes. But unlike anybody, people had been killed because of her_mistakes._

"Why don't you give up? You cannot win this fight, it is a fact we both know."

"He will come for me."

For the first time she heard his laugh. Not the usual chuckle or smirk, but a true laugh. It was cold and heartless.

"But if he's not...?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Closing in now, I am almost finished with this story now. :) I have two possible outcomes, either a happy(though not fluffy) or a bit darker one. What do you want most?**

**Again thank to my wonderful beta for quick editing and super job! :)**

Several days had passed by since the "little accident" as Ari liked to call it. Of how many days that had gone by she could not be sure of, but she figured it was around three or four days. However with nothing else than her rapidly more hungry stomach and dry throat, and some blindfolded trips to the bathroom, there was really no way of knowing. It could be all from one day to a whole week, for all she knew.

Since she broke his nose she had not been allowed any food, and had only been given enough water to stay alive without becoming too delirious. Every now and then Ari would come in and he would ask her questions about NCIS. He would ask a lot about Gibbs, questions she could not even imagine had anything remotely to do with anything important, still she refused to answer. It was like an endless circle, he would ask, she would refuse while damming him to hell and beyond; he would ask again, she would curse at him; he would ask again, and she would insult him in any way she could think of.

What surprised her most was the lack of psychical punishment for her misbehaviour. Ari was rough of course, while dragging her to the bathroom, and cuffing her to the bed afterward, but he did not hit her, did not drug her or used violence on her in any other way. It was alarming, out of character; it was like she was watching a storm build up, rising to crush her. And strangely enough, much as she feared Ari, she also found comfort in seeing his face. It was familiar, and though frightening, it made her calmer than the others._ Bassam_. His was the face that haunted her in her dreams, the face that made her scream and sent shivers down her back. When she woke up, she was angry at herself. Why was she processing all her fear on a man who hadn't even come to her "room", and not Ari who came in every moment...

In one way she was grateful she did not fear him the way she feared Bassam, it made it easier to face him without trembling, but on the other hand... Not fearing him meant that she found his presence safe in some way... And that was dangerous... She hated him in every way of course. He was evil, no doubt about that, but still... She knew their game now, and he had not raped her even though he often hinted that things would go that way. However she did not really think he would do it.

If he were to do it, he most likely would have done so a long time ago. And she could not shake the feeling that he would never take a woman by force. Being a womanizer meant he had plenty of access to _that kind of company_ and he had never struck her as a rapist. It seemed that he would not disgrace himself by dong such; he seemed perfectly content with being a terrorist, kidnapper and torturer...

_She was so exhausted..._

Ari had promised her food if she would only talk, but so far she had managed to keep her mouth shut. Where she got her strength from while confronting him, she did not know, but she was grateful for it. He made her angry and the anger fed her with energy. Still..., she feared the day when not even her hatred could keep her courage up... And it was closing in on her, that she was sure of.

The information Ari asked of seemed so harmless, to die of hunger because she refused to reveal which coffee shop Gibbs preferred or how many Caf-Pows Abby drank during the day, seemed stupid really. Had she not been better taught, she would have given up by now, answered the silly questions and stuffed her mouth full of food.

But had she not been warned about exactly this? Had she not done similar procedures when she led an interrogation? Always start with the easy questions, those who seem harmless to answer, then move on to the important ones. If you first had started talking it was so much easier to continue...Break one rule and you could break the others with less guilt...

It was not that she was broken already. Not by any means, she still had her dignity, it was just that she was so tired...So tired of everything right now; she could not focus like she used to. She had never been this hungry before..., or this tired... Whenever Ari forced her out of bed to go to the bathroom, black dots flickered before her eyes and it became harder and harder to walk without assistance.

Her only hope now was to die, or be saved before she started talking. In one way she had already died, admitting to herself that she would soon break was just one other way of dying...She was falling apart inside. Her only hope was that Ari had not noticed her slow defeat yet. But as she had rapidly grown weaker it would be impossible for him not to detect. The only thing that still held her up was her hatred. She pulled all her energy on maintaining her hatred for these people who where nothing more than cockroaches. Whenever she felt herself go weaker during Ari's little "chats" she would think of Grace, that poor little girl, scared and alone because of him and his minions, which that would give her new strength to fight every battle.

To confuse her, Ari shifted on greeting her good morning, good night, good day, but she could not be sure that he was truthful. Sometimes he greeted her good morning, and the next time he came back which could not be more than a few hours he said good night. It was confusing and frustrating, to be deprived of the ability to know time... If it was day or night she did not know, she did not even know when a day began or when it ended! What felt like days could very well be hours and reversed. It was if time just flew by and stood still at the same time...

If she just hadn't been so tired she would screamed in frustration. She slept when she could, but it seemed as if they were monitoring the room somehow, because just when she had fallen asleep, Ari would enter the room. It was not unusual that he was carrying a baguette, a toast or something else that made her mouth flow over with water. He would tease her, telling her that she could have it if she would only answer his questions... It was worst when he came in empty, with nothing to tease her with. As he leaned in..., close enough to kiss her, she could smell the coffee on his breath. The reminder of Gibbs hit her like a bullet in her stomach and it would almost make her cry. Not to mention how she longed for that boost of energy it gave. How she longed for a cup, she would even drink it black now. In fact she would prefer it black, pure coffee would equal pure bliss at the moment.

The now very familiar sound of steps toward her door disrupted her thoughts. And as the door creaked open she mentally prepared herself for another battle, praying that today would not be the day she broke...

...

It had been two weeks, one day and a couple of hours since Kate had been abducted... Gibbs was staring intensely at her empty desk. For a change the office was almost completely silent. Only the clicking from keyboards and the occasional sound of the printer could be heard. Most people were avoiding passing through his teams "office". After he almost decapitated the poor soul who wished his partner good morning, no person at agency wanted to attract his anger.

He was waiting... Since _Ziva_ came clean about her brother, and they had confirmed with the help of her DNA that Ari had been in the crime scene, he had been waiting. Well, at first he had been fuming. That Ziva David was the sister of Ari "bastard" Haswari and had dared not to tell him was more than he could take. He had been so close to take his gun and shoot the girl then and there that even Abby had seemed afraid. Not that that lasted long though, he had always admired Abby for her loyalty to friends, but that she had defended that scumbags sister so fast and still stood on her side was more than he could take in. Surprising the entire team Abby had taken Ziva under her wings, none of them knew what she had said to make Abby trust her in such a way, but they had bowed to her will and treated Ziva with some respect.

McGee had not changed much; he only behaved the way he usually did around women. As long as they did not act like a bitch he would be polite, appear a bit shy, but act like a genuine nice guy. DiNozzo, who never said no to a flirt, was acting a bit out of character. Instead of his usual crude comments and dirty jokes, he was acting more like McGee, but mostly ignoring the girl. Still it had not gone unnoticed that he frequently glanced at the young woman, and his eyes would often linger on her. Gibbs did not like it...

And to worsen the things, Ari had dropped off the face of the earth, and he had not even returned one single call from his Ziva. It was like he knew somehow that his sister had betrayed him...

Gibbs had never been a patient man and now with the life of his lov...agent at stake, his patience had diminished even more. The worst part about the whole scheme was the "trusting" of _Ziva David..._He did not trust her, he did not like her, hell he couldn't barely stand to look at the girl!

Her eyes, which bore the similarities to her brother's, the eyes that told tales of lies and murder. Dead eyes...Briefly he had wondered if Kate would think that, they too, looked kind, but he had stopped that thought before it could develop further. Kate had always been too good for everybody. She was young, idealistic and still looked at the world as a good place. People were innocent until guilty proven and she was sure of that there was something good in everyone, even in him. She had seen pass his flaws and when she looked at him, he could almost imagine that she truly saw him for who he was, and not just a grumpy old man with a history of failed marriages. She was not naive, he would never go that far, but her view on the world could sometimes be a bit green. He wondered what she thought of the world now, if she was even alive...

What frustrate him beyond belief was that he had to "trust" _Ziva_ to even have a chance to find Kate again. If Ziva could only manage to contact Ari and persuade him to meet with her, they could follow him back and find where he kept Kate. Which meant they had to wait...

He did not like it one bit. Every minute went by could mean life or death for Kate. Each minute could decide if she was in pain or not. _Ziva_ had explained to them all that there was a very good chance that Kate was already dead, or worse... She had explained the dangers of torture, and since Kate was a female prisoner there was also a possibility of rape...

Never in his life had he had such an urge to hit a woman before, just for suggestion that _his_ Kate could be the victim of that bastard's lust. He knew perfectly well that that was the way it often worked, and in his time he had seen several cases of abused prisoners. Rape was almost always used as a way of getting information, or just to humiliate the victims. Highly effective and often very entertaining for the interrogators. To think that Kate had fallen victim for such crimes and he had been unable to protect her...

His mind was twisted with different images of Kate in agony...This was why he hated to wait so much. It meant that he had too good time to imagine the sufferings of who he wanted to save. He was too old for this, he had seen too much of the world. Seen the sufferings, seen the evil...

"BOSS!" Tony's voice filled the silent room. "Boss, we're on the move! Ari has contacted Ziva..."

...

A sudden noise woke her up. Over the days her eyes had gotten adjusted to the dark room, but it was still hard to distinguish whoever who had woke her up. A large figure towered over her bed. Whoever it was stood completely silent and was watching her. For a moment she lay perfectly still, as if pretending to still be asleep. She was unsure how to behave. Normally Ari would make a loud noise which in turn made her sleep deprived brain almost go into shock. He never just watched her sleep, at least that she knew of... And he was not as tall as this man either. Goosebumps crept over skin as she realised that someone else was in her room.

The figure towered over her and she felt the familiar odour of alcohol. A low chuckle filled the silent room and it sent shivers down her spine.

"Hello little special agent... I think it's time you will get what you deserve..."

**The next chapter will be out next week I promise. It will be the darkest chapter in the story...Warning it will be M rated.**

**Any guesses who her "guest"?**


	14. Chapter 14

**Warnings: This chapter involves rape**

**Almost finished with this story now! :) Just a few more chapters to go.**

**Once again thanks to my wonderful Beta AiyanaStone! She is truly amazing! **

_The figure towered over her and she felt the familiar odour of alcohol. A low chuckle filled the silent room and it sent shivers down her spine._

"_Hello little special agent... I think it's time you will get what you deserve..."_

His hand had gripped her wrists as he slapped her before she even had time to react. The other hand was holding her throat as he warned her to play nice. She spat in his face and retorted in an angry hiss.

"You know Bassam, when all of this is over I will personally grant you a tour to our autopsy. I'll even make sure you don't freeze and provide you with a body bag..."

His face reddened by the sound of her voice, she could almost see the rage bubbling inside the man.

"Stop talking!"

Giving him one of Ari's trademark smirks she replied cheeky.

"The coolers are not too bad to lie in really, quite comfy. If you don't mind the dead bodies, blood and minus degrees that's it? In fact I can make sure you will lie there for days. Wouldn't that be nice? Off course you will be dead... If not by my hand, then by my Gibbs... Trust me when I say it will not be pleasant"

"Will you shut up! You always talk too much you worthless woman!"

Violently he tried to press a gag of some sort into her mouth. Clutching her teeth hard together she stared angrily up at him. She had known that it was a bad idea, fuelling his anger, but she could not help it. Having the ability to control his anger, to control anything really, filled her with more energy than she had these last days.

"Open. Your. Mouth. NOW!"

Refusing she turned her head away from him. No way she would allow him to put that _thing_ in her mouth. She would rather die than obey him.

The blow to her stomach took her by surprise and desperately she gasped for air. Brutally he shoved the gag into her mouth and tied a rope of some kind around it so she couldn`t spit it out. Still gasping for air after the brutal blow, the sudden invasion of her mouth left her coughing.

The moment it took her to compose herself, he had taken her hands and cuffed them to each side of the bed. As he grabbed her right foot and started to tie it down she came to her senses.

Pulling all the strength she had, she tried to kick him. Anticipating that she would fight again, he only held on to her foot with a surprising strength, making it almost impossible to move. Panic now struck her and she started moving wildly with her feet.

"You lie still or I promise that you will pay for it!"

His angered command did not stall her panic and she used all her strength to break free from his tight grip. All rational thoughts had vanished from her head; rage and horror was the only thing controlling her body. Giving her new strength, she managed to get one foot free from his grasp. At first they met nothing more than thin air, but then a satisfying crunch signalled she had hit target.

Bassam became furious as her foot got free. Blood was pouring from his forehead and the look in his eyes told her enough to know that he would rest for nothing until he had his way with her. Never before had she seen so much hate in a man's eyes. He did not even look human...

Adrenaline pumped through her veins, making her frantic. Aiming desperate kick at whatever part of him, as long as she could hurt him it did not matter, she growled in disappoint as he caught her foot again. In fury he slammed it down sending jolts of pain up her leg as it made contact with the wooden edge. In a matter of seconds he had shackled her foot to the bed, with the cuffs pressing so hard into the skin it left her numb.

Their eyes made contact and in a hurry she drew her left foot up, trying desperately to somehow curl it up under her. It was useless. With a strength she did not know he possessed took her foot with a tight grip. The panic was making her go blind, all her strength went to shaking the foot, trying to kick him again, doing anything to get away. But it was futile and with a last angry grunt he had managed to shackle the other foot to the bed.

"All of you _American_ woman are the same, he snarled...You talk too much, you are so full of yourself and you never know your place. You're just a bunch of _whores_. "

Concentrating on breathing she watched him with hate in her eyes. If only she had been stronger, she should have castrated the bastard when she had the chance. And because she was too weak she now was in this situation. Judging by the bulge in front of his pants he was, the little meeting with her knee in his groin had left little impact on him.

The lust and hate in his eyes made her sick. The way he was ogling her body sent shivers down her spine. Almost like a lover he sat gently down on her bed, his hand brushed her cheek and she flinched back.

Involuntarily she gasped as he drew forward a buck knife. The joyous expression in his eyes as he watched her fear made her tremble. He was crazy, madness existing deep inside his gaze…

"You know, Haswari really wouldn't approve of this... It seems he has gone _soft _on you. Giving you clothes, water, a clean bed and a shower. If this was up to me I would have let you rot in a small hole until you begged for mercy. You are useless! Pathetic! And women like you are only good for one thing."

With a flat hand he smacked her face, leaving her chin stinging. Compared to the blow in her stomach, the stinging pain faded away quickly. She could feel the way the involuntarily tears made its way down her flaming cheek, her eyes gleaming with hatred and fear.

"Now, lie completely still, or else I might have a little accident."

Holding the buck knife up, he started cutting through the large sweater Ari had provided her with. The tearing of fabric was the only noise in the room except for his heavy breathing. The cold air in the room gently caressed her skin as she became exposed to his glee.

His hand hovered next to her neck, barely touching. The ropes prevented her from moving any further away but her body ignored the logic as her mind shrieked in hysteria. He laughed at her futile attempts to get away from him.

"_Breathe, just breathe."_

He smiled, a predator and his prey, while his coarse hand started caressing her breast. Just the touch from him made her want to vomit. He squeezed her breasts, his fingers twisting her nipples painfully, bruises starting to form on her pale skin as he sneered.

"You like this, don't you?"

His hands wandered further down and she whimpered in pain as his fingers entered her. Cursing her own weakness, she could feel tears swelling in her eyes. Angry she shut her eyes again, not wanting to watch as he mutilated her body.

The sound of a zipper opening brought her back. Somehow she had hoped it would not come to this, though she very well knew where it all was heading. Opening her eyes she watched him get rid of his pants, not bothering to undress further.

As his heavy body climbed on top of hers, she panicked once more. Cursing him and trying to kick him, bucking to get him off her before he could do what he obviously intended. His heavy body held hers in place, until she didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Weak and exhausted from days without proper sleep or food, it did not take long until she succumbed. She tried to distance herself from what was happening. Flow away to a happy place, a place where no one could hurt her.

Yet as he pressed inside of her she screamed. The yells were muffled from the gag, but they sound of her pierced screamed could still be heard. A joyous expression crossed his ugly face as he shuddered from the exquisite pain he was inflicting.

He laughed huskily as she writhed beneath him, trying to push him off, her actions only sending him deeper inside her. The agony was excruciating and the pain was consuming her. Her hands jerked at the cuffs, tightening them and slicing deeper into the flesh.

He entered her body over and over again, while throwing the most horrible accusations against her. "_Whore, worthless, weak!"_ Finally allowing her body to go limp, trying to escape everything that was happening to her she gave up fighting. Trying to separate her mind from whatever that was happening to her body she let him use her.

"_Rule 1. Never let suspects stay together"_

"_Rule 2. Always wear gloves at a crime scene."_

"_Rule 3. Don't believe what you're told. Double check."_

Far away she could feel him slapping her, trying to force her to look at him. It was a weird feeling; the pain did not matter anymore. It had become something irrelevant, a numb feeling in the background. Blankly she stared up in the ceiling, trying to remember more rules.

"_Rule 9. Never go anywhere without a knife." _

His frantic moves indicated that he was soon finished, her body lifelessly beneath him, like a broken ragdoll. She was nothing anymore... A part of her had drifted away, escaping the violence Bassam inflicted on her body.

The unexpected noise of something cracking forced her back. His heavy body fell forward, crushing her small frame down in the madras. The heavy breathing disappeared and the room became silent.

Confused it took a while for her eyes to focus on the person behind Bassam. Her heart fluttered with hope. 

_He had come to save her!_

**Reviews makes me happy and inspired! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**_Closing in on the end now. :) Thanks to all of you who are still following this story. I dedicate it to you! And to my wonderful beta AiyanaStone!_**

_The unexpected noise of something cracking forced her back. His heavy body fell forward, crushing her small frame down in the madras. The heavy breathing had disappeared; the room had become silent as a grave. _

_Confused it took a while for her eyes to focus on the person behind Bassam. Her heart fluttered with hope. He had come to save her!_

She left the room in his strong arms; let herself be carried through the hallways. Looking up she met his worried eyes, carefully she left her hand toughing his cheek lightly, wanting to know if it was real or not. He held her gently, careful not to hurt her, his hand moving along her cheek, his thumb brushing away her tears.

He kicked up a door to a room she had never been before and they entered another small room. Vaguely she registered that it was only one door from her room.

Gently he put her down on his bed, before packing a warm blanket around her naked body. The wool scratched a bit, but it didn't matter. ..

"Stay right here, I will come back in a minute. You are safe in this room, no one but I will enter. Do you understand?"

Silently she nodded, clutching the blanket tight around. She could not believe it was over. It was finally over. It didn't feel like it was over. She could still feel his touch upon her body...

_Bassam was dead_, Ari had broken his neck. The crack when his neck broke was still ringing in her ear. She had expected to feel… _something_…. for the death of another person. Instead she just felt empty. Hollow. Drained of power. To tired to care. To tired to feel. An empty shell. Numb.

Pulling the blanket tighter around her she took a look at her surroundings. It seemed like he had taken her to his own private chambers. Not much different from hers, except some clothes hanging casually over a chair, a book by a night table and an empty glass of tea, with the mint leafs still lying at the bottom.

The soaked tea leafs reminded her of what she once had learned by a journalist from Morocco onboard Air Force One.

_Le premier verre est aussi amer que la vie,  
le deuxième est aussi fort que l'amour,  
le troisième est aussi doux que la mort._

_The first glass is as bitter as life,  
the second glass is as strong as love,  
the third glass is as gentle as death_

She wondered of Ari had had the three customary glasses as tradition called for or if he just had the _bitter as life_ glass.

The blanket she held on to so tight to smelled just like him. A mixture of mint, soap and spices. Previously it would have bothered her, but now it just seemed pointless. The blanket was warm and it didn't expose her, why bother throwing it away just because it belonged to _him_…

There were no windows in this room either. It was just as small and tight as her own had been. Sealed. Locked up again.

_Locked?_

Somehow the thought pierced through to her. Made her feel something again. Her hearts started pumping.

_Locked?_

Had Ari even locked the door?

Could she get out of here? Could she be free? Escape?

Carefully she swung her feet over the side of the bed, trying desperately to walk toward the door. The moment her feet touched the cold floor, her legs buckled beneath her as pain racked her body. Unable to stop herself, she cried out and crumbled to the floor.

Only sheer willpower forced her to continue. She had to get out of there. Needed to get out of the room. She had no plan, no thoughts of what to do what so ever. The only thought in her head was to get out.

It felt like forever before she finally reached the door, crawling toward it like a toddler, unable to walk herself. Wincing in pain as her body protested at being moved, each movement sending jolts of pain through her.

Holding her breath, she anxious tried the door and almost gasped in relief as it opened without a sound. Clinging to the handle she carefully peaked out into the empty hallway. She could hear the voices of someone talking far away, yet they did not stop her. Using the door handle to pull herself up she could finally stand on her feet.

Clutching to the wall she slowly made her way down the empty hallway. Her head was spinning from the exhaustion. She felt dizzy and nauseous. _Dirty._

It seemed as if the hallway grew longer and longer the further down she went. It felt never-ending. Her head hurt, her feet hurt and her inside hurt, her entire body was screaming in pain.

Her head was spinning intensely, making it difficult to concentrate. She couldn't help it…she collapsed on the floor, held her knees to her chest and sobbed. She was exhausted, hurt, dizzy, nauseous and could barely stand on her feet. This was how she would die. Alone, lifeless, filthy… a prisoner. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes.

"_Let them come."_ she thought to herself. _"I don't care anymore. Just end it now."_

It could have been minutes, or a whole hour, she did not know, until the sound of boots clicking over the wooden floor brought attention to her. She lowered her head to her knees and let the tears flow, stiffening and curling up even smaller as she heard someone bend down beside her.

She knew it was Ari, without even looking at him. The sound of him walking, his breathing, the way he moved, she would recognize it anywhere.

In strong arms he lifted her once more, like she weighed nothing more than a feather. Instead of the expected scolding for disobeying him, he only held her with tender arms and carried her down back the hallway again.

Instead of going into his bedroom, he carried her further down and into yet another room. The bright light hurt her eyes so she turned away, facing his muscular chest instead.

In a strange way he somehow felt safe. If not the worried look in his eyes, his previous actions would speak for itself. Yes he was cruel; yes he was vicious and gruesome. But at least from him she knew what to expect. He could hurt her, taunt her, but somehow she felt that he would never actually…_hurt her_…in _that_ way…

She yelped out in shock as warm water suddenly surrounded her. Opening her eyes again she was sitting in a tub. _He was going to bathe her? _The blanket she still clutched around her was soaking wet, yet she didn't let go of it. She flinched as he tried to drag it of her, and fear clearly showing in her face.

"Caitlin," he said gently. "You need not be afraid. I am not Bass am. I will not violate you."

Although her mind commanded her to let go of the blanket she just could not seem to do it. She was holding on to it as if it was a matter of life and death.

"Caitlin. I need to make sure that Bassam did not inflict serious injuries on you. Can you please hand me your blanket?"

She only stared at him with dull eyes, her knuckles going white from holding on so tight to the blanket. Why couldn't he understand that she could not let go? She had tried, but she failed. Why couldn't he understand?

"Caitlin, he said in a softer voice. I give you my word that I won't let anybody hurt you like that ever again. No one here will touch you. As long as I am here, I will protect you from such harm."

That did it. Trembling she let go of the blanket, letting him drag it off her.

Her entire body was covered in blood and gore and the scolding hot water burnt the open wounds. Yet the water felt like heaven itself, like it would burn away everything that had happen to her. Burn away the essence of _him_. Every muscle in her body relaxed as the heat enveloped her. Her tears was running slowly her cheek and dripping into the water.

She winced in pain as he examined her bruised wrist. During the ra….._time_ with Bassam, she had not noticed that she had reopened the fracture.

He made a worrying clicking sound with his mouth, so unlike him it left her staring. Who would have thought that Ari could seem….. _hen-like?_

"I will have to bandage this after we get you clean. This is the second time your rupture has reopened and if it doesn't get time to heal you will struggle with it for the rest of your life."

He sounded so professional, like a caring doctor. Not at all like the man she thought she knew by now. Not like the man who spent hours interrogating her and was just waiting for her to crack.

His hand grabbed a washcloth before soaking it in water and then drenching it with soap. She shuddered when the cloth first touched her, the soft movement so unlike anything she had felt in a while.

He started at her neck, her shoulders…then dipped it below the water and gently, tenderly moved it along each of her breasts, her chest, and her stomach. She hadn't realized she held her breath until she relived breathed out as he continued pass her thighs and concentrated on her calves and her feet….

Kate watched the water get dirtier and dirtier as all the grime and blood was scrubbed of her body. Watching the dirty water almost made her smile bitterly at the irony; the water now looked exactly what she felt on the inside, while her clean outside matched how she had felt before Bassam had violated her.

"I will go and fetch some equipment so I can tend to your wounds. There is a towel here and I have provided you with some new clothes. Please knock on the door when you are ready for me to enter again."

Silently she nodded, not trusting her own voice. Watching him close the door she sat a while longer watching it. Taking up the washcloth again she drenched it in soap. She still felt so dirty. She began scrubbing her breasts, crying as she did so, wanting to erase _him_ from her body. More soap, more scrubbing, more tears and yet she could still feel _him_ in her body. His touch. His hands caressing her body. His mouth biting down on her tender skin. The water was cold when she finally stood up. Wincing in pain, every muscle screamed in protest as she moved.

Just as Ari had said, a soft cotton towel was ready for her. After slowly drying herself up, trying to avoid inflicting more pain on her already bruised body she took several deep breaths, trying to compose herself.

The glint of a mirror caught her eye. She could almost hear Bassam's voice in her head.

"_Dare you look in the mirror? Dare you see what I have done to you? What I have reduced you to?"_

Watching herself in the mirror brought nothing but a shock. Her body was covered in bruises, already blue, but tomorrow they would probably become different shades of black, purple, green and yellow. Her forehead had a nasty bump from after he had punched her. Her lips were bloody and swollen, her face still bearing his red hand prints and her neck covered in his fingerprints. She could clearly make out the bite marks on her breasts…

Still it was not the injuries that shocked her, what stunned her the most was the person behind injuries. Instead of the women she was so used to see, was someone who looked like a girl. She looked so fragile and small, nothing at all like she remembered herself to be.

Still the most notable change was her eyes. Looking back at her they looked old as time, like they had seen everything in the world. They looked like the eyes of a person, tired of life and its cruelty. Dull, dark and lifeless. Bassam had stolen her soul.

Suddenly sick to her stomach, Kate fell to her knees in front of the toilet and began to vomit. After days with nothing more than water she barely had anything to throw up, and the acid burned her throat.

Afterward she poured more soap in her hands and franticly washed her mouth. The taste of soap made her nauseous again, but it was better than the taste of her own vomit.

Refusing to look more in the mirror she turned her attention toward the clothes Ari had put out for her. She blinked. Wonderingly she picked up the clothes. She blinked again. How could she not have noticed it before? It was her clothes. Her underwear. Her jeans. Her wonderful pink sweater. Holding it up to her nose inhaling the smell of home another tear dropped from her eyes.

As fast as she could manage without falling over, she put the clothes on, enjoying the familiar feeling of wearing her own clothes again. Still shaking slightly, cold from the bath the clothes provided much needed warmth. She first noticed how much weight she had lost while dragging the jeans over her bottom. Where they previously sat rather tight they now hung loosely around her hips. The bra which she had spent a three-differed number on, now looked like she bought the wrong size and the sweater looked like she had borrowed it from her mother.

Yet it was a wonderful feeling to be able to put real clothes on again. After the bath and being clothed again she could almost feel somewhat like her old self again. Looking questioningly at the mirror again she just saw the same timid little girl in to big clothes.

Before she even realized what she was doing, she was smearing soap onto the mirror. The mirror was soon covered in large white smudges, making it impossible to see anything. Satisfied with her work she stumbled toward the bathroom door and knocked on it, indicating that she was ready.

Ari raised his eyebrows when he noticed the mirror, but without a word he sat gently down beside her. One by one he tended her wounds, taking his time doing each so carefully and tender as if she were made of glass. When she flinched as he bandaged her wrist he made a soothing noise and gently kissed her wrist.

"Can you walk?"

Still not trusting herself to speak she nodded again. They took it slow, but still after a few steps she stumbled again only to be caught by Ari. Without a word he swooped her up in his arms again, and brought her back to his bedroom.

"I made you something to eat."

She stared down onto the plate she was given. The scent of soup tickled her nostrils. It smelt delicious, really it did, and just a day ago she would have done anything for something to eat. But now it just made her nauseous and she looked at it with distaste.

"You have to eat Caitlin."

She shook her head, she wasn't hungry anymore.

"Is he really dead?"

Her voice sounded like a hoarse crow from all the screaming and it pained her to even form the words, but as he nodded she felt a grim satisfaction. The numbness had started to fade and was replaced by pure hate.

"I wanted him to suffer as he made me suffer."

Her voice was unnaturally cold and she saw him bow his head as if he was in pain as well.

"Caitlin I am truly sorry for what happened to you. That was never my intention. I don't expect you to believe me after what I have done to you, but it is the truth. I never wanted to see you hurt that way. I gave strict orders that he was not to go to you, but he disobeyed me. "

His voice was soft and caring. He looked genuinely ashamed of himself. For some reason, watching him weak like this made her angry.

"I am truly sorry Caitlin."

Her mind as reeling. For some reason, this was all too much for her. She didn't want him to act like she would have to forgive him. Why did he have to behave like this?

"Why would you even think of apologizing to me for something you did not do? Are you responsible for Bassam's actions? Why can't you be a man instead of a coward. If you were to apologize why can't you do it for the things you actually did. Like sticking a knife through my hand? Kidnapping me from my own apartment? "

She was shouting now. The words did not even have time to be formulated. Every little thought, every little concern and anxiety came out.

"Mocking me. Humiliating me. Taking away my freedom for THE THIRD TIME!. And how about Grace? The little girl who had nothing to do with any of this. WHAT ABOUT HER! Did you ever think about apologizing for any of that?"

She did not now where she got her strength from, where all the anger that was boiling and fed her with power. She didn't know and frankly she was passed caring. Who was he to do these things to her? Kidnap her, then comfort her? Having the nerve to take the blame for Bassam! It was just all wrong.

"Then how about locking me into a small room? Tying me down without giving me a chance to defend myself? Drugging me? The things you do don't only make an impact on me, but also on the people left. How do you think Grace parents feel? Longing after their little girl, grieving her. They LOVE her! Can you not imagine what its like to love someone? To love them with body and soul, to be willing to die in order for them to live!"

With a tight grip he took her arms, looking intently into her eyes.

"Caitlin, please don't make the mistake of believing I am incapable of loving…I know very much what its like to love someone. I loved my mother more than you can possibly imagine. I loved my sisters more than life itself and yet my youngest sister was taken from me when she was only sixteen. A meaningless death. And I love my sister which I have made a promise to protect with any means I find necessary. As for the little girl, Grace, she was perfectly safe the whole time."

"Safe! Safe like me perhaps? Locked in a room, strapped down to a bed where anyone can come in and do what the hell they want?"

Against her will she could feel the tears prickle down her cheek again. She didn't want to cry! She wanted to stay angry. She didn't want to get to know Ari as a person. She did not want to know he had lost his sister and his mother. She did not want for feel pity for him. Hate was a strong feeling, and right now it was the only thing she wanted to feel. Therefore she clinged on to the memory of Grace. If she could focus that he had not only done this to her, but also to Grace…

"Is that what you mean by safe! Cause that sure as hell didn't end up very well for me now did it…?"

"She was safe the whole time. That I can promise you. And now she is back home with her parents and dear old Gibbs again. I let her go. I may do a lot of things, but I would never hurt a child if it could be avoided. Little Grace was very important and played a major role, but her role was finished the moment you came a long. She is now with her family, probably sleeping in her own bed with her parent tremendously happy to have her back. The time she spent with us, I promise you that she was perfectly comfortable. "

His answers brought more questions than answers yet the only question she could clearly formulate was a tired:

"How can I trust you?"

"You can't. It's a simple as that. You just have to believe"

She looked him in the eyes. Trying to decipher the truth from them. How could the eyes who so often spoke of evil also have a warm side. It was like he was two different persons, two completely different persons. When she looked into his eyes she saw the eagerness for redemption, She felt so tired. She was sore over her entire body and her mind was reeling. She didn't feel like herself anymore. Afraid of everything. Bassam had taken something from her and she had not even managed to fight him of. She felt so weak…

"Why can't you just let me go?"

She hated the soft and pitiful voice that came out of her, making her feel like the little girl she saw in the mirror earlier. More tears trickled down her cheek and she shivered as he gently brushed them away. How could she still have tears left after all the crying, that was beyond her imagination.

"For now, just sleep. I give you my word that no one else will come in as long as I am here and I will be here when you wake up… Just sleep…"

Ziva David watched the house carefully. Of all the places in the world he could have hidden, he had chosen this luxury wooden hut? It didn't make sense. If there was anything she knew about her brother it was that he was a very careful and calculating man. To have chosen anything like _this_ to hide away, did not make sense.

It was too close to everything. It was exposed, it had too many entrances to be easily protected, and it was made of _wood_…. At least the concrete building was something she could understand, wooden walls were not soundproof…..

Two things she could congratulate him on though. With the house lying as exposed as it did there would be no way of anyone sneaking up to it without being noticed. And unless any sounds came out, nobody would expect that the big hut was actually filled with different horrors.

A buzzing vibrating sound from her pocket stopped her thoughts. A quick check and she confirmed that Gibbs was calling. She could almost slap herself for being so stupid and a moment later the phone was off. She knew how quickly that McGee could track a phone; hopefully he hadn't done that yet.

Gibbs would not be very pleased with her now. Not only had Ari managed to shake NCIS of his trail, Ziva had managed to stick on and get lost with him as well. They were probably thinking she betrayed them…

Her heart stung a bit as she though of Abby. The first one who took her into the warmth. Who trusted her. Who managed to see pass her armour and see that she was more than just a soldier. Hopefully she would understand…

It was early morning when she silently slipped away in the woods. Racing on the empty roads, driving zigzag through the woods until she was fairly certain that no one would expect where Ari was.

Finally, after hours of driving she picked up her phone again. Better face an angry Gibbs on the phone, before entering the Navy Yard she decided. It only took a couple of seconds after she had turned it on before it rang. If it hadn't been for the gravity of the situation she would almost have chuckled over his impatience, as it was, she only answered it with a sharp.

"David."

"David! Where the hell are you! I have been calling all goddamn night!"

"I am right at corner of Scott Circle."

"Do you have a visual at Ari?"

"Negative."

Through the phone she could hear him grumbling and barking like an old dog that had just lost a juicy bone to the neighbor cat. She was silent until his snarling finally died away. After a moment of tense silence he finally growled.

"Are you meaning to tell me that you lost your own brother?"

She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what to come and replied.

"No, I know exactly where is his, I just can't tell you yet."

"DAVID!"

This time she was sure the whole street could hear him through the phone.

"I want a deal Gibbs. If I tell you were Ari is hiding I want your word that he is not to be killed. Kidnapper or not, he is my brother. I don't want to see him killed, and I do certainly not wish to be the reason he is killed. I will not give him up, _unless_, unless you give me my word that he is not to be slaughtered."

He gave a barking laugh.

"David I can promise you one thing and one thing only, the next time Ari Haswari sets his foot inside NCIS it will be in a body bag. Dead."

A load head slap could be heard and Ziva winced. It sounded painful. And she wondered who the unfortunate soul was.

"Don't you listen to him Ziva!"

Abby's high-pitched voice could be heard through the phone.

_Abby slapped Gibbs?_

"You are going to tell me right now where Ari is hiding! I want Kate back now! We will try to capture your brother alive. I give you my word. If he resist we will take him down, but only then. Can you live with that?"

"ABBY!"

Gibbs voice came like thunder.

"Go. Lab. NOW!"

Another slap could be heard.

"Don't you dare command me Gibbs! I have as much of a right to be a part of this as you do. If we want Kate, we will help Ziva. Ari is her family, and we stick out for our own. That you have taught me many times. Now I have compromised. If he attempts to escape, or if he tries to kill any of you, then you can shoot him. If not you will cuff him and bring him back here, where I(!) will bring you all the evidence you need to put him away for life. If Ziva can live with that so can we!"

Ziva held her breath; this was actually more than she dared to hope for. Since Tali they had made a pact to look after each other, and even if he had violated the pact she would not bear to be the reason he was killed. To single handed give him up to slaughter…..

"I promise," said Ziva. "That if Ari does anything of the things you have mentioned above I shall take him down myself...

**So what do you think? I love reviews more than anything and it helps me write faster. Good if you like it, or if you have any suggestions to make me write better, I truly appreciate it.**


	16. Chapter 16

**So I am finally finished with another chapter. Sorry that it took so long, but after what happened at Utøya I just could not find the energy to write. Now the story is nearly finished, so I hope you will all stick with this too the end:)**

**This chapter was Betad byAiyanaStone.**

_Something heavy was pressing her down. She couldn't breathe! Panicked, she opened her eyes just to look into Bassam's evil ones. Hungrily his hands caressed her body and he laughed evilly at her._

_Panicking she tried to move, only to discover she was frozen, unable to move._

"_Whore."_

_She shrieked in pain as his mouth bit hard down on her breast, like he wanted to devour her. She felt his erection pushing against her stomach._

"_You are weak."_

_She sobbed out in pain as he continued his abusing of her body. Moving further and further down. He opened his pants and shoved himself inside her._

"_Pathetic. Useless. Whore."_

_She lay in frozen panic as he took advantage of her body._

"_I know you want this, just like a common whore! You are enjoying this. Pathetic slut."_

_He punched her and she screamed out in pain._

"Caitlin! CAITLIN! WAKE UP! You're having a nightmare. Caitlin wake up!"

Ari was shaking her and calling her name. Still half asleep, frozen in her terror she was unable to do anything. She sobbed and cried, mumbling words not even she could understand. It had felt so real. A moment she had truly believed she was back with Bassam. She could still feel his breath on her body. Feel his touch…

"Shhhss. It's okay now. It was just a dream. He can't hurt you here. It's only a dream."

He held her with strong arms, stroking her hair while she hyperventilated. The more she tried to calm herself down the more she kept panicking. It was like she had no control. Ari was whispering comforting words into her ear. Gently he stroked her back, holding her tight even though she was shaking like a leaf. Slowly, very slowly she felt herself grow calmer with his words.

"Caitlin. Don't you remember I saved you? I saved you from Bassam and he will never be able to touch you again. Go back to sleep. I will watch over you."

He continued to stroke her hair till her eyes once again started to drift shut.

When she finally woke up again she was still exhausted. Her body was drenched in sweat from the nightmares. Time after time she had woken up, screaming her throat dry, she had hardly slept at all. Yet every time she woke up in panic Ari had been there. Comforting her with soft words, stroking her hair, giving her water to drink….

Tired she opened her eyes only to find Ari, sitting on a chair reading in his book. Wondering she looked at him. How could one person act like so two different people? The way he had behaved after Bassam, it was like he cared… Remembering how he had held her after the nightmares, lifted her gently after he found her, and bathed her. He had not even tried to punish her from her disoriented flight down the hallway. True she had not gone far, but she had disobeyed a direct order….

For the first time she truly took in how he looked. He was…different…This was the first time she had seen him truly relaxed. JuHe was just reading quietly in a book, not coming with some smart-ass comment, acting evil or what-have-you. ever. He had a small frown above his eyesknit in his eyebrows, like he was concentrating on something. It sort of reminded her of the frown Gibbs had.

He looked tired, she noticed. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he did not look like his normal groomed self. .It looked like he had forgotten to shave for a few days as well. As if noticing he was being stared at he turned his attention from the book and too her. Without a word he picked up a plate she hadn't noticed before and came over to her bed.

A couple of cheese sandwiches, obviously made in a hurry were put in front of her. She wondered if he had made it, and felt oddly comforted that they were made in a hurry as if he did not want to leave her alone for too long. She frowned, that was not a good thing she reminded herself. It was better being alone than with him, just because he acted nice, did not mean that he was nice…. It was just…just…well it wasn´t anything she strictly told herself. Just forget bout it Caitlin she instructed and instead of thinking, she tTryingly she tasted the sandwichesa bite of it. It pained her sore throat to even swallow the dry bread. Hoarsely she asked him for a bit of water and almost smiled in thank you. _Almost._

Slowly she tried to eat upate up the sandwiches, softening each one with water before daring to swallow it. She had gone hungry so long now, that after one eating up the firstonly one she felt like she had devoured a horse.

"Eat up. You will need it."

Suspiciously she looked at him. Now that the night was over, she felt better. Or calmer was a better word for it. She had been stricken to the cord after finding the truth about herself. She had always been the tough one, the one that could handle everything that was put out in front of her. When facing difficult situations she had been just like any other Joe on the job. Strong, tough, ready… But no more….

The truth was that she was….indeed….weak…. A quitter. One who gave up. She had never been a worthy opponent; she just had a big mouth. After some time in captivity she had crumbled down under the bragging, but never actually performing. And what could she say now? That one stupid, shallow, low-piece excuse of a man had reduced her to a sobbing mess after a couple of hours? That she had found comfort in the creeps killer, the same man who had abducted her?

She had lost all integrity, all self preservationself-preservation, everything about herself. The truth that she had feared all a long, every time someone had thrown a crack about her being too womanly to handle pressure, was true. None of the others would have cried like she did, clunginged pathetically to the chest of their kidnapper. They would have been better…

Looking at him she had the feeling he had known all along. Known that she wasn't as tough as she proclaimed to be. Just like he had known she couldn't stab him…She didn't want to think about the previous night anymore. He had seen it all, everything about her. She had been vulnerable, weak, pathetic…A sobbing wreck. The weird thing was that she did not fear Ari anymore. Or perhaps fear was the wrong word. She had no illusions about surviving anymore, and she knew that if she died it would be by his hands. But it was like he was a part of her now. Like a tumour attached to the heart.

"Why are you suddenly treating me so nice? I thought you would be glad to see me like you did yesterday…."

Annoyingly enough he ignored her questions and only pointed back to the sandwich.

"I told you to eat up. You will need your strength today."

"Why?"

"Just follow my orders, please" He smirked annoyingly to her, which transformed into a proud smile as she picked up the sandwich again.

Glaring, she looked at him. Why did he care if she ate up or not? It pained her to even swallow the bite and she felt queasy.

"I can't. If I eat anything more now I'm gonna vomit."

He looked at her with suspicion, but the green glare over her face must have convinced him she was telling the truth. Sighing he took the plate and put it back on the night table.

She froze as his hand gently cupped a lock of her hair. All the logic parts of her knew that he wasn't going to hurt her. If he would he would have done so the previous night. She had let him hold her the previous night, he had given her a bath without touching her and she had let him. Why was she having so much many problems with it now?

He must have noticed the panicked look on her face for he looked….hurt?

"What is it about you Caitlin, that make everyone _feel _so strongly? Hate. Love. Protection…. I don't think I have never come over a person like you before. Your friends are willing to die for you. Your boss threatens to tear the world apart. Bassam cannot control himself; the hate consumes him too bad and he disobeys a direct order. Tariq, a man whom I have never seen react to anything but the fight, findsthinks you are fascinating. All the other of my men are polishing their guns, ready to make you pay for what you did to their comrades. And me… Well… We both know what I did for you….How do you hold this power of people?"

He let go of her hair.

"Curious indeed."

As soon as he moved out of her personal space she started breathing normally again. Angry at herself and her weakness she puffed. Why was he affecting her so strongly? That was more the question. Why was she so weak she could not hold up her shields against him? Why could she not be stronger? In a strained voice she spat out:

"You're still a bastard you know. . Don't think that just because you show a different side of yourself I will forgive you and think otherwise. You tortured me for god's sake! "

He sighed, looking more tired that she had ever seen him before. Sitting close, the dark circles under his eyes almost gave the impression of a black eye.

"I don't expect forgiveness, nor am I ready to be forgiven as I am only partly guilty. I do wish you´d remember that I have broken the rules for you too many times already. I never intentionally meant to cause you pain."

"Yeah cause stabbing a knife through my hand was such a pleasant experience. I really enjoyed that part. Not to mention the kick in my stomach, being shot with a stun gun, ridiculed, humiliated to be naked in front of you and been a part of all your little games. If that is how you treat your women it's a wonder you get laid ever at all! "

He chuckled low and smirked slightly at her. Now she was getting angry.

"Yes I suppose that is the truth that you see. It's a shame you cannot look past the tip of your own nose…."

"You, you!..."

She was interrupted by a sudden beeping noise. Bewildered she looked up to see Ari smile a sad little smile, instead of the usual trademark smirk.

"I believe dear old Gibbs has come to save you. A bit before schedule, but I think that's okay considering the circumstances. You're time here with me is over. Now come with me, we will have to hide you until it is safe for you to come out again."

She stood gaping and watched him.

"Please close your mouth Caitlin. Gaping like a codfish does not become you."

Quickly she closed her mouth.

"What do you mean_ hide_ me? If Gibbs is here there is no wayhere in hell I am going with you!"

"Caitlin this is not the time to be stubborn. He has come for you and you will go with him. However I have men in this house who does not know that you will be rescued and I can not have that any of them decide to use you as their human shield or something. That would be rather silly since I have used this last time to try and hold you alive won't it? Now come along, don't make me say please."

Her mind went into overdrive. She was going to get rescued? Ari allowed it? He wanted to make sure she was out of harm's way. Could she really trust him?

"Come on!"

He led her through the hallway in a quick tempo holding his gun up. Back into the bathroom he went over to a little garbage can. He lifted it, and.. To her surprise he picked up the entire tile floor, and revealed a small room underneath.

"Turn around."

Before she knew it she had obediently turned around and gasped as cold metal clasped around her wrists.

"You tricked me!"

Raging she turned to face him.

"That I did not, I will just not risk you playing superhero and get killed in an instant. I know everything about you, and I also know that it is not in your nature to try and hide, even if it could cost you your life. You, like the others of your team seems to live under the impression that you are immortal. Now…."

And with strong arms he lifted her up and helped get down in the hole. Passively she let him do it, without making trouble. His touch sent crawls down her spine, but given the situation she tried to compose herself. Looking sorry down at her he also picked out a handkerchief and bound around her mouth.

"Just in case…" He murmured low.

He looked at her intently,. His dark brooding eyes upon her, like he was trying to memorize everything about her.

"Listen to me Caitlin," he said. "I must be the bad guy. It is my part, I came to peace with it a long time ago. I have accepted that, please remember."

And with that he kissed her gently on the head and closed the lid, leaving her in darkness. Dazed she sank to the wet floor. Too much had happened the last moments for her to understand. Why had she let him bound her up and gag her without even starting tou a fight? Why was it so that the one moment he touched her, it felt like she was frozen in s tone, and terrified, yet he could hold her and make the nightmares go away all the same?

A giant blast shook the whole cabin and she could her muffled screams through the walls.

Gunfire.

Yelling.

Someone was screaming orders, but she could not make out which language. The cuffs sliced into her wrists as she tried to free herself from the captivity. Not to escape like Ari had predicted, but to cover her ears from the brutality. To hold around herself and try to calm herself.

Her body screamed with her as she could hear the shooting getting closer. It seemed as if it lasted forever before the silence finally settled over the hut again. Then, through the floor she heard the one thing she never thought she would her again. It was a wonder really how she was able to recognize it, even through the thick floor. But she would recognize it everywhere. He had been barking to her for the last two years, honestly she thought she would recognize him even after a hundred years.

_Gibbs._

**:) So what do you think? Good or bad, or something in the middle? **


End file.
